New Delhi, March 29 -- Ashok Amritraj, from the famed tennis family that accounted for the A in the ABC (Amritraj, Borg, Connors) of the 1970s tennis world, is today a synonym for success as a powerful Hollywood mogul. The youngest of three brothers that included Vijay and doubles specialist Anand, Ashok's transition from the tennis court to Tinseltown is itself a testament to an unstoppable drive in a very white world. It is a journey of calculated risk-taking and strategic and cultural bridge-building between the East and the West.

According to the 69-year-old, tennis taught him not just discipline and strategy but also how to compete on the international stage, where he was always seen as an outsider. As a prelude to his incipient fut...