On an All Time High

That’s not my hand!

While Udaipurs culture is strongly linked to the Lake Picholo and it’s massive city palace the most evident cultural phenomenon is the James Bond movie Octopussy.

Shot in the city it used famous landmarks such as the Taj Lake Palace, the Monsoon Palace and the Shiv Niwas Hotel. Now you can enjoy the movie 365 days a year in any one of the hundreds of restaurants in the Lal Ghat area of the city.

Octopussy’s home

As a bond movie goes Octopussy was one of the most memorable. Starring Roger Moore as James Bond and Maud Adams as the titled character the action is split between Germany and India.

The villains are played by Louis Jordan (Gigi and the always excellent Steven Berkoff as well as supporting roles for
Local actors Kabir Bedi and Vijay Amritraj as well as the twins David and Anthony Meyer.

As well as Maud Adams, another Swede played another Bond girl Magda (Kristina Wayborn).

The gadgets consisted of a fountain pen that emits acid (that Bond uses to escape the Monsoon Palace), a homing device (hidden in the Fabrege Egg) and a watch to track it. No Bond car in this movie though 😦

For me one of the best scenes in the movie is when 009 dressed as a clown is being chased by the knife throwing twins, an act that Bond repays in kind later in the movie.

Louis Jordan as Kamal Khan

So if you enjoy James Bond, and in particular Octopussy come to Udaipur.