Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj will be the subject of a feature-length documentary. The untitled film, which is under production, will cover Amritraj’s childhood in India, his tennis career in the 1970s and 1980s, his philanthropic work, and his roles in such films as the James Bond thriller Octopussy and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and the television show What A Country, a press release stated.
The film will be helmed by Sami Khan, who has co-directed the Oscar-nominated short documentary St. Louis Superman. The Amritraj documentary will be produced by Calabasas Films + Media and Sterling Road Films as well as Dhaval Desai and Amritraj’s son, Prakash Amritraj.
“Despite being billed as one of the top young players of the 1970s, along with Borg and Connors, Amritraj never won a major championship,” the press release stated. “Some detractors claimed he was ‘too nice to win’. In a culture that often celebrates ruthless victory over sportsmanship, the documentary explores the toll that takes on everyone.”
Sami Khan said in a press statement, “Amritraj was a pioneer for South Asian athletes, and I know our film will have urgent resonance today.”
Prakash Amritraj added, “For so long people of colour have been told ‘you can’t,’ and ‘you won’t.’ Vijay has always been a symbol of ‘I can’ and ‘I will.’ And he did it keeping God in his heart, and his family and India on his back.”
Also read:
When James Bond first came to India, saris dropped and camels balked