Samba, the menacing, scrawny villain of Ramesh Sippy's classic Sholay bid us adieu on May 10, after a long battle with cancer. He was 71. Mac Mohan, with his signature beard, lush mane and sinister smile, riveted audiences as the quintessential Hindi film villain. Despite the brevity of his roles he made quite an impression and became a cultural icon of sorts. The famed character artiste had come to Mumbai to make it as a cricketer, but chanced upon theatre, thus moving on to Bollywood. Mac Mohan started his career with the film Haqeeqat in 1964, acted in over 190 films in a career spanning 46 years. His last film was Luck By Chance where he made a special appearance as himself. Hema Malini who had worked with Mac Mohan in Sholay said, "His demise is very sad. "