Veteran cartoonist
died of cancer on Wednesday morning in a Gurgaon hospital.
Also watch: Pran talks about cinematic adaptation of Chacha Choudhary
The 74-year-old creator of
was born in Pakistan in undivided India and did his masters in political science from Panjab University.
The World Encyclopedia of Comics anointed him the Walt Disney of India. Pran, who saw RK Laxman and Sudhir Dar as his heroes, created comic characters including Chacha Chaudhary, Shrimatiji, Pinki, Billoo, Raman, Channi Chachi, among others.
Pran was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by Indian Institute of Cartoonists in 2001. In 2014, the World Encyclopedia of Comics anointed him the Walt Disney of India.
Talking about the reason why his cartoon characters were a part of folklore, The cartoonist had said in an interview to HT, "All of them were humble and ordinary. There were inspired from the middle-class Indian life. That made them relatable to my readers. Chacha (Chaudhary) for example could be your average Indian man on the road. Biloo was your teenage boy next door. The fact that there was nothing special about these characters made them memorable when their tale was told."
(With inputs from ANI)