---
type: Video
title: "James Bond Finds Love in India (Bollywood Edition)"
description: A Bollywood James Bond bit shot across Gujarat — buying whisky in a dry state on a permit, crashing a wedding, and a nine-course all-vegetarian Gujarati tasting menu.
tags: [india, ahmedabad, gujarat, alcohol, food, vegetarian, weddings]
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih1ch75Y2Gc
video_id: ih1ch75Y2Gc
upload_date: 2023-12-30
duration: 1926
---

# James Bond Finds Love in India (Bollywood Edition)

A comic set-piece — Harry in a suit auditioning for a Bollywood James Bond —
shot around [Ahmedabad](/places/ahmedabad.md) with [Will](/people/will.md).
The framing is a joke; the material underneath it is not.

Two things make it worth keeping. Gujarat is a dry state, so buying a bottle
means a permit and a shop hidden in a hotel basement, and Harry films the whole
transaction including a processing fee that never makes it onto the receipt.
And the nine-course Gujarati dinner is the clearest explanation in the bundle
of why an entire Indian state eats no meat at all.

## Key moments

- [00:00] Alcohol is banned in Gujarat. Harry has a permit.
- [00:31] The shop turns out to be in the basement of a hotel, reached from
  outside — he compares it to a secret shop.
- [01:37] The staff insist an imported vodka is Indian.
- [02:11] And that Mount Everest is in India.
- [02:52] A bottle at 13,000, which he declines at speed.
- [03:22] Indian whisky at 1,100, about $15.
- [05:05] Plus a 100-rupee processing fee that isn't on the receipt, which he
  asks viewers to explain to him.
- [06:21] He spots a wedding and walks straight into it, being the only person
  present dressed for it.
- [09:59] The Science Park, recommended to him as one of the best things to do
  in the city. The nature park has no animals in it.
- [11:39] Penguins, which he says is a jail rather than a sanctuary.
- [12:13] A zoologist among the visitors explains the aquarium to him.
- [13:20] His rating for the whole attraction: two out of ten.
- [13:38] A nine-course Gujarati dinner.
- [15:42] It is entirely vegetarian, because Gujarati cuisine is.
- [16:56] The reason, as his host gives it: eating meat is a sin, and so is
  alcohol. Tobacco is fine.
- [17:31] His rule for eating Indian food — mix everything, be creative, you
  can't get it wrong.
- [18:03] A drinks menu concealed inside a hollow book, which he reads as hiding
  the alcohol.
- [19:39] A printed book is provided to explain each course, because he has no
  idea what he's eating.
- [20:18] A deep-fried leaf under a sweet sauce, which he calls one of the best
  things he has eaten in India and, specifically, the best leaf of his life.
- [21:24] A palate cleanser between courses — his first.
- [21:57] The Gujarati thali, built as a pyramid. The kitchen works with 24
  different vegetables, and he and Will are served different ones.
- [23:00] Dessert, with about ten components on the plate.
- [23:34] A ninth course, which is a digestive made with betel leaf.
- [24:05] He leaves a 1,000-rupee tip.
- [24:38] A date with a Nepali woman working in Gujarat, who says the work is
  twelve hours a day and hard.
- [25:10] Why there is a Tibetan market here: Tibetans displaced by the Chinese
  occupation live and work in India with the government's permission.
- [27:23] A jet ski he isn't allowed to drive, so a speedboat instead.

## Extracted pages

- Place: [Ahmedabad](/places/ahmedabad.md)
- Country: [India](/countries/india.md)
- Person: [Will](/people/will.md)
- Tips: [Reward honesty and hard work](/tips/reward-honesty-and-hard-work.md)