Killing us softly, in Bollywood

Murder is messy business. But then, to answer an overused cliche with an overused cliche, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Bollywood has its own share of hitmen, marksmen, hardcore assassins who'll do anything for money or a cause. With Salman Khan becoming the latest to join the killer ranks, here's a look at Bollywood assassins over the years:

Salman Khan in Wanted

In this remake of Southern hit Pokiri, Khan plays an assassin. It'll be interesting to see how well he does in the role, having essayed nothing of the sort before this.

Not just is Shatrughan Sinha an assassin in Shaan, but he's also a crackshot marksman who uses a telescopic sight and a sniper rifle to take care of his targets.

Bachchan played the rustic big brother Ravi as well as Babu, the assassin sent to kill Ranjita. A cold-blooded killer, Babu's light eyes and sinister theme music make him quite unforgettable.

In one of the most inventive murder techniques, Tinnu Anand's madcap assassin in Pushpak used really sharp icicles to kill his victims so that the murder weapon would melt and leave no evidence behind.

In this painfully plagiarised remake of the wonderful Leon: The Professional, Bobby plays an assassin having to deal with the foul-mouthed and annoying Rani Mukerji.

An assassin who truly fits the bill, Dev's character in Sankat City is that of a true-blue mercenary, loyal only to the one footing the payment at the time.

After his family is slaughtered and he's raised by a Naxal, Deol goes on to become a killer -- except he works for the intelligence agency.

In this tacky yet unforgettable Jag Mundhra film, Pooja Bedi plays Nisha, a woman who was raised on poison and now likes to kill people using it. A film so bad it's essential viewing.

In Kamal's controversial film, the legend plays Saket Ram, a level headed man goaded into fundamentalism by the atrocious way his wife is raped and killed. He plans to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi, but eventually changes his mind.