Padma Bhushan Vijay Amritraj: The OG tennis legend who smashed the snake-charmer cliche and won the world

Far ahead of the era he grew up in, Vijay was the crowd-puller at Slams and a magnet at after-match parties of the rich and famous. He, and his brothers Anand and Ashok, didn’t need to be a yogi or play sitar to get acceptance in the western world. Vijay played their sport and played it way better than them. He spoke their language and was far more eloquent than them.

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As a Top 20 player he could hold his own against the likes of Laver, Smith, McEnroe, Connors. His charm, wit and intellect would get him entry into elite circles. As a 6″3′ broad-shouldered athlete, Vijay wasn’t the archetypal Indian of those times. He and his dreams were bigger than most in pre-liberalisation India.

Vijay Amritraj in action. (Express Archive)

When travelling the world, Vijay didn’t carry any third-world baggage. He was soft spoken but he did raise his voice if forced. He was a true global citizen but remained fiercely patriotic. He was an asset to his sport but he remained committed to his Davis Cup duties. He played a decisive role in India’s many epic Davis Cup triumphs. With him in the team, India reached the final of Davis Cup but had to boycott the match since their opponent was South Africa of the apartheid era.

For a sickly child born with cystic fibrosis, potentially a fatal lung ailment that needs constant hospital visits, Vijay turned out to be a spectacular over-achiever. He took up tennis since the doctor wanted him to pursue an out-door sport.

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With barely a few pounds in their pockets, he and his brother Anand would travel to England. Long before words like “hustle” and “jugaad” started getting used by Corporate India, the Amritrajs had aced them. On a frugal budget, the brothers had a hand-to-mouth economic model. There was a time, they faced a series of adverse results. “Every Monday I was out of the tournament and had the whole week free, with 5 dollars in my pocket. We literally had to win in the afternoon to be able to eat at night,” he would say.

To avoid going hungry to bed, Vijay came up with a ‘hustle’ that involved betting on Anand’s brilliant chess playing skills. Since the tournaments were at posh clubs, the big-talker Vijay would take bets from the moneyed members to beat Anand at chess. The back-up plan worked. Now, they could afford to lose at tennis since they were winning at chess.

With time the results changed and America was steadily warming up to the tall, lanky Indian with a tight serve and volley game. While at his peak, Vijay once went on to play at another spectacular hotel frequented by white elderly Florida folks. He would wear his Chennai shirts and Kolhapuri chappals to dinner, inviting stares. Opinion would change when Vijay would beat Rod Laver in earlier rounds and Jimmy Connors in the final. Now, the club members were asking where to buy Chennai shirts and the Kolhapuris.

Later at the US Open, Vijay would defeat Laver again. The New York Times would applaud the effort but there was a line from the report – “The incredibly poised and polite dark‐skinned Amritraj” – doesn’t read right in present times.

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Revisiting his much talked about role in the James Bond movie Octupussy doesn’t feel right. As an under-cover agent, he is a snake charmer one minute and an auto driver the next. Driving Mr Bond in his auto in a dramatically-congested Indian street, he dodges cows, camels, fire-eaters, sword swallowers, a yogi on a bed of nails and beggars. Finally, they escape because of the chaos caused by the natives fighting for cash thrown at them by Mr Bond. The film-makers don’t miss a single Indian imagery that is objectionable.

With time, India’s image would change. That had a lot to do with Mr Bond’s auto-driver on screen who in real life would go on to be a Hollywood producer, a broadcasting icon, UN ambassador for peace, ATP Hall of Famer and now Padma Bhushan Vijay Amritraj.