Vijay (Vijay Amritraj)
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Datastream
Character: Vijay
Actor: Vijay Amritraj
Movie: Octopussy
Status: Deceased
Appearance: Tall and fit, often seen in loose casual clothing befitting the Indian
climate
Date of Birth: 14th December 1953
Height: 6' 4" (1.93m)
Place of Birth: Chennai, India
Pleased To Meet You
Bond runs into
the Station
I agent at the Udaipur docks.
Having just touched down in India, Vijay is on the scene
to rendezvous with the British Agent. He bizarrely attracts
007's attention by playing a strain of the famous 007
theme on his snake charming flute.
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"I am Vijay, Special
Expeditor to Universal Exports. Welcome to India, Commander
Bond."
Personality
A friendlym resourceful and young MI6 operative, Vijay answers to section chief Sadruddin, but when 007 arrives in India, the agent is only too keen to help. Vijay has a great, although rather British, sense of humour and gets along famously with James Bond. He keeps fit and has a part time job as a pro at the local tennis club. Vijay is a competent and quick-witted foreign agent ready to give anything for the mission at hand.
Involvement
After rescuing Bond from the heat of the dockside, Vijay transports
him to his hotel and the MI6 men agree to rendezvous at
the casino to meet with the shady Kamal
Kahn. When a quick escape from a high-stakes backgammon
game is required, he ably navigates their nimble Tuk-Tuk
taxi through the bustling market of Udaipur before
arriving at the MI6 headquarters.
Later, Vijay takes the
graveyard shift whilst James Bond investigates the Octopussy Island.
Ultimately, the brave agent gets caught in the fray
and is executed by hired goons sent by Kahn to
kill Bond. |
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Biography
Born to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj in 1953, Vijay Amritraj began his tennis career in 1970 in the early days of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. Like Vijay, both his brothers Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj would go on to become internationally recognised tennis players.
In 1973 he played at the famous Wimbledon tournament - the
oldest tennis competition in the world. He reached the quarterfinals where
he was
beaten
by the would-be champ, Jan Kodeš. The same year he played the US open
but again made it no further than the quarterfinals.
Amritraj captained India's team that
participated in the Davis Cup throughout the 1970s and '80s
and twice the team reached the finals under his leadership - first in '74
and then again 13 years later in '87. In July 1980 he reached
his personal best world ranking of Number 16, and throughout
his career won 16 singles
titles and maintained an impressive win-loss record.
In the 1983 film "Octopussy", Vijay
played a major part as a trusty ally to 007, in which
the screenwriters took full advantage
of his sporting fame. His character is remembered as a solid
and loveable ally from the James Bond cannon and his cheeky
grin and active role in the Octopussy mission helped to make
his foray
into cinema a success.
His other on-screen outings include "Star Trek
IV: The Voyage Home" and a recurring role in sitcom, "What
a Country".
At the 2008 Wimbledon competition, Vijay partnered
Gene Mayer in a senior's doubles match, at which the pair were
seeded number 1.
For a time, Amritraj served as the United Nations
Messenger of Peace and out of his experience in this role, created
The Vijay Amritraj Foundation in an effort to make better lives
for underprivileged Indians.