Actor Bob Christo passes away

MUMBAI: Bob Christo, the man who played "gora" henchman in films of the eighties and nineties, including Amitabh Bachchan’s "Namak Halal" and "Agneepath", passed away in Bangalore on Sunday afternoon. He was 70. His business partner and family friend, Khaleem Pasha, said, "He was hospitalised after a massive heart attack on Saturday afternoon. He passed away today."Bob Christo first made waves whenhe was introduced by actor-filmmaker Sanjay Khan in the film "Abdullah". SaysPasha, "Bob came to India to meet actress Parveen Babi, but ended up getting abreak in the film 'Abdullah'."Bob was a qualified civil engineer,but his good looks got him modelling assignments. He even got a small role in aMarlon Brando-starrer but on a friend’s advice let it go, and insteadbegan building film sets. His modelling assignment made him travel to variouscountries. When he was waiting for a work permit for Muscat he came across anarticle in Time magazine about Bollywood and decided to come to India to meetParveen Babi.The actor of Australian origin went on to act in over200 movies, including films like "Kaalia", "Mard", "Nastik", "Qurbani", "MrIndia", "Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja" and "Gumraah".Bob got typecast as a henchman, lead villain's sidekick or a British officer in period films. By early 2000, Bob shifted to Bangalore and started working as a yoga instructor Pasha says, "He had been to Mumbai two months ago to meet Dharmendra and Akshay Kumar. When he fell ill, all of them did call us to inquire about his health."The actor's biography, "Flashback: My Times in Bollywood andBeyond", was to be released by Akshay Kumar in June. Bob was planning toreturn to Hindi films in an Akshay Kumar film. He had also signed a few SouthIndian movies, including one with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal.