Octopussy and Udaipur

In a spirit of inquiry, we broke down and watched Octopussy last night, and sure enough, there is the hotel where we stayed in Udaipur, and there the dining room where we feasted on lentil cutlet. The "hilltop palace" of the movie is in fact the Raja's own observatory, for monitoring the progress of the monsoon (always a dodgy business in Udaipur--they say that three years ago, the lake was so dry that the crocodiles were hunkered down under the mud). And I would--really--like to know how they built that "lake palace" (left), perched elegantly as a man-made island off-shore.



Not being a big Bond fan, I'm not really fit to judge the movie, but I must say I thought it a stitch (apparently serious Bondini give it a low grade). Anyway, doesn't the villanous General Orlove (right) remind you of somebody (left)?