Well, there you have it. The character James Bond does, in fact, officially “know” the James Bond theme. 🙂

This short sequence from Octopussy (1983) is a good one, not only because Bond (Roger Moore) meets his cool India contact Vijay (Vijay Armitraj), but also because of the way they agree to identify each other. Obviously, when Bond meets a contact in a foreign country, they need to agree upon something to indicate the other that they are in fact who they say they are. Whether it be a handshake or a secret password – it really doesn’t matter. It just has to be something agreed upon during earlier communications.

Makes sense, right? So in this case, as Vijay is undercover as a snake charmer, the only way Bond can identify him, is by the familiar tune Vijay plays on his whistle. The 13 or so notes of the James Bond theme Vijays plays is unmistakable to any Bond fan, and apparently even to James Bond himself. Cool!

This really was a neat start to the Bond and Vijay partnership – one that always had a great rapport throughout Octopussy. Vijay’s a pretty funny character, although if he hates snakes so much I do wonder why he agreed to the snake charmer cover in the first place!

James Bond’s (Roger Moore) India contact Vijay (Vijay Armitraj) plays a familiar tune undercover as a snake charmer in Octopussy (1983)