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The name's Christo. Bob Christo
Updated On: 22 May, 2011 11:47 AM IST | | Fiona Fernandez
From Zeenat Aman to Amrita Singh, the presence of Bob Christo in the same frame transformed most heroines from the '70s and '80s into hapless damsels. Sunday Mid Day gets exclusive access to one of Bollywood's biggest baddies' life, revealed in the late actor's thrill-a-page biography
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From Zeenat Aman to Amrita Singh, the presence of Bob Christo in the same frame transformed most heroines from the '70s and '80s into hapless damsels. Sunday Mid Day gets exclusive access to one of Bollywood's biggest baddies' life, revealed in the late actor's thrill-a-page biography
While in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on a military mission, the late Bob Christo chanced upon an edition of the Time magazine dated March 1, 1977. The cover story read 'The Indian Film Industry and Parveen Babi.' It piqued Christo's imagination, who wanted to meet the actress and try his luck in an industry which according to the story, '...Released over a thousand films every year, that is about three films every day.' The life of Christo, Australian by birth, and civil engineer by profession, would put the script of any of Manmohan Desai's masala potboilers to shame, in terms of the canvas and cast. In 2008, Christo, who as a kid enjoyed playing storyteller to his cousins, decided to write his biography without the help of a ghostwriter. Pity that he passed away in March 2011, months before his biography's first copies hit stands. 
Australian by birth, and civil engineer by profession, Bob Christo's life
would put the script of any of Manmohan Desai's masala potboilers to
shame pic/Suresh KK
While Christo's role play in Bollywood, since his debut in Sanjay Khan's Abdullah, to his second innings in mega TV serials including The Great Maratha, is well documented, few are aware of the Australian's exploits prior his landing in Mumbai.
Flashback: My Life and Times in Bollywood and Beyond, written by Christo, and edited by Allen Lane and Portfolio publisher Udayan Mitra reveals his story, sans kid-glove treatment. From training under Bruce Lee's tutor Oshiro to being a model in South Africa, Christo managed to get a lot done in one lifetime. Fittingly, his autobiography reads like an edgy, unpredictable film script -- his stint as a Hollywood film stuntman, a military assignment in Rhodesia, starting an escort service in South Africa, and of course, wooing the big names in Bollywood, including Zeenat Aman ('Zee' to Bob). We bring you excerpts from our interview with the editor, and exclusive extracts from the soon-to-be-released book.
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What were your initial thoughts when you began to work with Christo's biography?
I met Bob in Bangalore two years ago at a book launch. I had no idea that Bob had moved to Bangalore after he retired from Bollywood, or that he might be interested in books. After the event he came up to me and introduced himself, and made a couple of keen observations about the discussion. I was still trying to get used to the fact that I was speaking to Bob Christo -- an indelible part of our collective Bollywood memories -- when he said, 'You know, I've written a book, about my life. May I send it to you?' The manuscript arrived in a few days, along with Bob's personal scrapbook, which contained hundreds of newspaper cuttings of promotional material from his movies (some of these have been used in the book). I found the manuscript engaging and signed him up immediately.
What sort of challenges did you face along the way, particularly since you were interacting with a known face from Hindi cinema?
It was a wonderful author-publisher relationship. Bob would call me every week, and we would chat about the progress of the book -- he was very excited about every aspect, the copy editing, the page proofs, the photo insert, the cover, the blurb. Whenever I went to Bangalore we would meet at book launches --Bob was a regular at launches. He was extremely co-operative and a professional.
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