Vijay (Vijay Amritraj)

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.

"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.

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.