The Bond films kicked off a massive spy craze all over the world. Every country started making secret agent films. Some serious, some spoofy, some campy. They tried to outdo each other with their villains, gadgets and titles. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Secret Agent Fireball, Operation Bloody Mary, Danger!! Death Ray, Code Name Jaguar, Operation Lady Chaplin. How I’d love to see some of these.

The Hindi industry jumped into the fray too, with huge hits like Jeetendra’s Farz and Dharmendra’s Aankhen and Shatranj. And later, the Mithun Chakrabory Gun Master G9 series. It’s quite a treat to watch Jeevan, Madan Puri and even Lalita Pawar play chinky-eyed villains.

Bond is the longest running movie character and obviously it’s tough to sustain momentum all the time. The series went through huge highs and some lows. The late ’80s and ’90s were tough times for the superspy. The Cold war got over and suddenly there seemed to be no villains good enough for Bond. Suddenly, he seemed somewhat frivolous and fancy; gadgets like an invisible car seemed simply unbelievable.

The Tom Clancy thrillers, TV series like 24, even heroes like John Maclane of the Diehard films seemed more credible. And hence exciting. And then came the Bourne films. And suddenly it seemed like the end for James Bond. But thankfully, the producers took a chance and went for a drastic reboot of the character. And it worked.

The Martin Campbell-directed Casino Royale was a very faithful adaptation of the original book, sensibly adapted to suit today’s situations. ‘Your martini….shaken or stirred, sir?’ asks the waiter. Bond says: ‘Do I look like I give a damn?’ Wow. This is a guy we’ve not seen before.

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