Bollywood villain, who acted alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda, married five times; battled depression, and died in isolation

Amitabh Bachchan’s Shahenshah holds a special place in Hindi cinema for obvious reasons. But for actor and dancer Mahesh Anand, the film was life-changing as it finally put him on the map. Before that, he had struggled to find recognition, but his turn as one of Bachchan’s on-screen antagonists in Tinnu Anand’s action drama made audiences take notice.

Mahesh Anand made his acting debut in 1984 with Karishmaa, a film that starred Kamal Haasan , Reena Roy, Tina Munim, and Danny Denzongpa. However, his connection with this stellar cast went back even further. Two years before Karishmaa, he had performed a striking silhouette dance in the opening sequence of Sanam Teri Kasam (1982), also produced by Barkha Roy, Reena’s sister. It was while working on these films that Mahesh met Barkha,