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Bob Christo
Australian–Indian civil engineer, actor (1938–2011) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Robert John Christo, was an Australian–Indian civil engineer and actor in Hindi films. Starting with Sanjay Khan's Abdullah (1980), he went on to act in over 200 Hindi films in the 1980s and 1990s, including Qurbani (1980), Kaalia (1981), Nastik (1983), Mard (1985), Mr India (1987), Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993) and Gumraah (1993), mostly playing roles as a non-Indian henchman or Army General.[1][2]
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Career
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Born in Sydney, Christo was a qualified civil engineer of maternal Greek and paternal German descent.[3][4] He had two brothers, Helmut and Mike.[2] Despite his Australian nationality, Christo spent much of his youth in West Germany qualifying as an engineer following his return to Australia. Known for his brawny physique and bald-headed look, Bob arrived in Bombay, India in 1978 while awaiting a work permit to Muscat, Oman following several job stints to support his three children including in Vietnam following the death of his first wife in a car accident in 1974. [1] It was in Mumbai that he was introduced to Bollywood actress Parveen Babi,[2] who helped him transition into Hindi films.
He received his first break when he constructed the jungle palace for Francis Ford Coppola in Apocalypse Now.[5] And later as a villain in the Hindi movie Abdullah in 1980. Christo decided to stay in India and appeared in over 200 movies in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, playing a recurring typecast villain.[6]
Sanjay Khan discovered him and gave him his first break in his movie Abdullah as the villain, and also after many years, Sanjay Khan gave him a break, firstly in Magnum Opus “The Sword of Tipu Sultan” and then in The Great Maratha, where he played the iconic character of Ahmed Shah Abdali.
During the later stages of his life, he relocated to Bangalore in early 2000, where he started working as a Yoga instructor[7] and remained disconnected from the Hindi movie industry since 2003.
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Death
The 72-year-old actor died of "rupture of left ventricle valve" in Bangalore on 20 March 2011. He is survived by his wife Nargis and two sons, Darius and Sunil. He has two daughters, Monique and Nicole from his previous marriage.[4][8]
Filmography
Film
Television
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Works
- Flashback: My Life and Times in Bollywood and Beyond, by Bob Christo. Penguin India, 2011. ISBN 0143414623.
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References
External links
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