Louis Jourdan (right) as Kamal Khan in ‘Octopussy’.

Kamal Khan is a fictional character in the James Bond film Octopussy. He is portrayed by Louis Jourdan.

Biography: Khan is a suave exiled Afghan prince living in India in the Monsoon Palace. He has a penchant for fine food and liquor, priceless jewels, “hunting” humans, and atomic weaponry. In the film, he associates with the power-crazed General Orlov in an attempt to unleash nuclear holocaust in Western Europe, by planning to detonate a nuclear bomb inside a US airbase, using Octopussy’s Circus as a cover. The ensuing outrage at this “accident” will encourage NATO to abandon nuclear arms, and allow Orlov’s armies to invade the West.

After Khan and Gobinda escape with the captive Octopussy, they climb aboard Khan’s plane. Bond hitches on to the plane and defeats Gobinda in hand-to-hand combat while Khan makes it do dangerous flips and turns. Bond detaches the fuel line causing the plane to nosedive, leaping off with Octopussy just as Khan desperately tries to land. Due to the runway being too short, Khan ends up going over a cliff and perishes when he crashes into the side of a mountain.

See also:

• Bond villains