20 Things You Didn’t Know About Octopussy (1983)

2. “Are You With Our Group?” “No Ma’am, I’m With The Economy Tour!”

octopussy movie
MGM/UA

The Maharana Bhagwan Singh Mewar was keen for Octopussy to be filmed in Udaipur, The City of Sunrise.

He permitted filming at his palaces: the Shiv Niwas Palace became James Bond’s hotel; the Taj Lake Palace (or Lake Palace Hotel) represented Octopussy’s lavish floating headquarters (alongside Jag Mandir Palace) and also accommodated the film’s stars, whilst The Monsoon Palace became Kamal Khan’s base of operations.

The Maharana and his son, Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar - who was General Manager of the Lake Palace Hotel from 1982 to 1983 - held cocktail and dinner parties for the core cast and crew, including Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Kabir Bedi, and Vijay Amritraj, treating them to Udaipur’s famous Rose wine.

The Maharana also loaned the production a stuffed tiger for the sequences in which Kamal Khan hunts James Bond, which also appeared on Peter Lamont’s composite soundstage set for The Monsoon Palace on Stage A at Pinewood Studios before being returned to him.

Octopussy is still regularly shown in Udaipur and Sir Roger Moore is the only James Bond that many of its citizens have ever seen onscreen.

Contributor

I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.