Octopussy

(Hing) Part of our group ventured out for movie night at one of the rooftop restaurants overlooking the lake that was showing James Bond's Octopussy. The premise has 007 uncovering an international jewel smuggling operation by using a fake Fabergé egg which led him to India. Udaipur is the main location where the 1983 movie was shot.

The female lead, Octopussy, is a resourceful woman (as most Bond women are) living with her stupendous sexy female acrobats on a floating palace while developing a talent for illegal activities. The floating palace is situated in the center of Lake Pichola and is now a five-star luxury hotel.

There were many funny and silly moments throughout the movie. One was when the bad guys are chasing Bond and Vijay (an Indian agent), and 007 said "Vijay, we've got company." Vijay's response was "No problem, this is a company car." Another scene had 007 looking at the tattoo on Magda's back and asked "What is that?" Magda said "That's my little octopussy", and hence the name for the movie.

After watching the movie, Elaine said that the scene in which Bond had to traverse through the streets of Udaipur was probably even too tame for what foreigners, like ourselves, have to experience in India -- meaning dodging traffic from vehicles (including auto rickshaws), bikes, vendors, and animals.

The movie brought personal memories as 007 used the same Seiko watch that I had purchased for myself six months prior to the release of the movie.