B'loreans vie with Londoners in Googling for Bond

Bangaloreans are next only to Londoners in Googling for Skyfall, the latest James Bond thriller that has struck a chord with the 007 buffs in town, a survey by the search engine has found.

James Bond’s 23rd sequel Skyfall was so avidly watched and followed in cities across India that the country now stands third globally in searching for the new movie on the internet, after the United Kingdom and Singapore. This was revealed by Google Search Trends tracked over the past few days.

The fictional character, created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, is one of the longest-running film series and enjoys popularity all over the world. With the line, “My name is Bond, James Bond” becoming a symbol of the womanising spy, it seems unlikely that interest in Bond is going to die any time soon.

The City’s Bond fans had reasons galore to be hooked to the secret agent. “The vitality of James Bond lies in his Britishness, the accent primarily. He is a very refined spy. A touch of old Victorian gentility and nostalgia. Also, British actors are the flavour of the season – Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale and Andrew Garfield,” explained Anoop Hosmath, an engineer.

“Bond is no longer the quintessential role model of the 60s that he started off as. He has continually evolved with time. This is mirrored in the enviable gadgets he uses, his cars and the plots as well. The movie, I thought, was outstanding, with a personal touch,” felt Sumukha B S, a student of BMS College of Engineering.

For Shashank Nair, a student of Christ University, the appeal was in the transition from the cold-blooded assassin that Bond was originally portrayed to be in the books to a suave spy with rather enticing traits.

“He is appealing on account of his unique approach to handling the most unfavourable situations with equal charisma as he handles his women. With the latest installation, Skyfall, he justifies his presence in the post-Cold War era, laying a firm foundation for many more years of Bond to come.”

“James Bond, according to me, is a very classy secret agent. Over the years, he has evolved to be a brand per se, again now it’s all about the gadgets and women than Bond himself,” was how Swathi Rao, an engineering student, spoke of the Bond aura.