Pran was born on February 12, 1920 in Delhi. He was educated at different places namely Meerut, Dehradun and Rampur. His father Lala Kewal Krishnan Sikand was a Government Civil Contractor. He got married in 1945. He has two sons and a daughter. He started his film career with the movie Yamla Jat (1941). He starred as villain in most of the movies in his career. Upkar (1967) directed by Manoj Kumar gave him the chance to act as supporting actor and from then he starred in movies as a father, or friend of lead actors.