Pran Kishan Sikand was born on February 12, 1920 in old Delhi's Ballimaran area. His father was a civil engineer. Pran has three brothers and three sisters.
His father had a transferable job because of which the family were moved about from place to place including Dehradun and Meerut. After passing out of school, Pran joined a photographer's studio in Delhi as an apprentice.