A Quote by Bob Christo

I had a spine problem. I did a lot of stunts and fights in Hindi cinema, had falls from horses... all that took a toll on my health. — © Bob Christo
I had a spine problem. I did a lot of stunts and fights in Hindi cinema, had falls from horses... all that took a toll on my health.
When I came in, Westerns were the big thing, so I did horse falls, transfers, bulldogs, big fights. That's where you could really shine if you were really good at it. But then all the Westerns stopped, and I was capable of doing car stunts, motorcycle stunts and high falls. I could do it all.
For 'Dum Maro Dum,' I had a diction tutor, as I had to get rid of my Hyderabadi Hindi and learn Goan Hindi. It wasn't easy, because these two kinds of Hindi were mutually incompatible. I had to unlearn one kind of Hindi and then learn a new kind.
FTII had people from all over India and abroad and they had a different mindset. They would talk about world cinema and there I was - the only foreign films I had watched were probably Arnold Schwarzenegger's and dubbed in Hindi at that!
Over my career, I've had to do a lot of shows that involve stunts, and I so enjoy stunts.
It's not like I was trying to be sexy but I had to get fit because I had to be able to do stunts. Also I wanted that, if Bond took his clothes off, he looked like a man who did what he did, which was kill people for a living. I thought the only way to do that was to work out and get fit and buff and get physically into shape.
I did a lot of smoker fights and fought pretty much every week since Pat wouldn't let me fight until he was sure I was ready. I was also boxing and so I had 30 unofficial fights or more of those.
When I came back to Hindi cinema, I realized a generation had forgotten me completely.
I had been riding horses before my memory kicked in, so my life with horses had no beginning. It simply appeared from the fog of infancy. I survived a difficult childhood by traveling on the backs of horses, and in adulthood the pattern didn't change.
The problem in South is we don't have access to much of Hindi cinema.
I realized horses have personality when I bought one and I had one, who's now out to pasture, a horse named Drifter. Before that, I was a city boy. Horses, I used to go out to the LaBagh Woods and ride at a stable once every two years or something; no idea about horses. Dogs, I knew, had personalities, but not horses.
I was one of those people who put too much emphasis on work and career and material possessions, and it took its toll on all my relationships, on my physical health, my emotional and mental health.
All this while when I was not seen in Hindi films, I did a lot of regional cinema. I was a part of various Gujarati, Punjabi and Bhojpuri films.
I grew up riding horses since I was eight. I rode English style and competed every weekend. I had two horses, Scout and Camille, and they were my babies. It taught me a lot about responsibility and commitment. I hope horses will always be in my life.
At 29, I quit films. A lot of things happened. I had personal issues, injured my spine, and felt paralysed for a while. I never thought of coming back. Personally, it was traumatic. I just took life as it came and dealt with it in a positive manner.
I did not want to do things the way they are usually done in Hindi cinema.
Initially, I did South Indian films because I needed the money; I had a huge student loan that I had to pay off. But I do feel that Marathi, English, and Hindi are what I'm more comfortable with.
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