The other side of Bob Christo

Bollywood's villain Bob Christo may have passed away but he has left behind much to remember him by. Besides a large collection of movies, the civil engineer from Sydney, Australia, also left behind his autobiography, which was released after his death.

In the book titled Flashback: My Life and Times in Bollywood and Beyond, Christo shared his filmi experiences, and his life.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

Meanwhile, I had a good look at Bombay city, doing a lot of walking which helped me find my way around pretty soon. On the second day in Bombay I saw a group of people filming in the street and I stopped to watch. After a while, they started winding up their work, shaking hands and kissing one another. I heard them saying that the shooting part of the film was over.

I started to talk to them and found out that the director's name was Prem Kapoor. I told them that I had also worked in movies; I'd just worked for a big Hollywood film in the Philippines a few months ago.

Prem Kapoor invited me to come to their hang-out in a tea house on Veer Nariman Road near Churchgate station in the evening. I went there and met Prem and some others of that group. I had heard that anybody with the name Kapoor was big in the Bollywood film industry, but Prem Kapoor explained that he made only documentary films. 'This joint's a meeting point for art film-makers and documentary producers.'

I asked him if anybody could help me meet Parveen Babi. I described how I had found the Time magazine in Rhodesia with a big write-up about the Indian film industry and Parveen Babi. Prem said he'd tell his workers and friends, and sooner or later somebody would introduce her to me. From them on I used to drop by at that tea house regularly and listen to them talk about their film stories.

A few days later, one of the cameramen who came to the tea house occasionally spoke to me. His name was Zuber Khan. He and a sound man, Chakravorthy, who also used to come there, worked for big feature movies for BR Chopra Productions. He told me that there would be a 'mahurat' for a movie called Burning Train the next day. 'Parveen Babi is one of the heroines.'

I asked, 'What is a mahurat?'

'That's an inauguration. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 9 am at Andheri and take you to Bombay Central station. I'll introduce you to Parveen Babi.'

'Great, 9 am at my place.'