I remember Dabboo (Randhir Kapoor) asking me, 'Yaar issko kahan se utha laya?'. But I didn't pick Bob Christo up and bring him to Bollywood. It was destiny.
OF BEGINNINGS
I still remember when he showed up. He introduced himself and said he wanted to join my team for Abdullah. I had no role for him. But I took an immediate liking to him and allowed him to tag along to the location. Once there, I decided to write a special role for him, as an assistant villain to Danny Denzongpa. That's how his tryst with Bollywood began.
SCREEN FILLER
Bob had an imposing screen presence. Danny would goodnaturedly grumble about him filling up the screen while shooting for Abdullah. 'Issko dekh lena zara, ' Danny would tell me. The same thing happened when I cast Bob in my historical serial The Grand Maratha. Irrfan Khan felt Bob took over the screen. But he managed to hold his own.
A DEAR FRIEND
I needed to get a large amount of money collected from Switzerland and brought to me in London. I chose Bob to do it. I remember I was waiting in a hotel with a friend at the appointed time when he was supposed to show up.
The friend said Bob would never show up. I bet a 100 pounds that he would. And he did. He was a man of integrity and deserved all the success he got.
He did nearly 300 films in many languages including Telugu and Tamil. He even acted with N T Rama Rao For some time, Bob was a yoga instructor at my spa in Bangalore. Then I lost contact with him.
THE ENDI didn't know he was in a bad shape until his wife called me in Dubai and told me Bob had gone into surgery. I told her I'd pray for his recovery. She said it was a one-way journey for him on the operation table. That's when I knew it was over for him. I will miss him. He was a good human being and a dear friend.
Bob's best
Abdullah (1980)
Qurbani (1980)
Kaalia (1981)
Namak Halaal (1982)
Sharaabi (1982)
Disco Dancer (1984) Sarfarosh (1985)
Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993)
