Chinmay Mandlekar’s thriller, based on the life of Mumbai cop Madhukar Zende who captured Charles Sobhraj, tries to parody the Bikini Killer, but despite Manoj Bajpayee’s charm, the humour and writing fall flat
Hindi cinema appears to be on a mission to celebrate the daring exploits of India's unsung heroes. In the new series, Saare Jahan Se Accha, which premiered on Netflix on August 13, RAW spies risk life and limb — without any hope of fame or glory — and toil for India's interests in a hostile territory like Pakistan. In John Abraham’s Tehran (currently streaming on Zee5), a brave Indian cop slips into Iran to avenge the death of a bomb-blast victim in India.
Now, Netflix drops yet another thriller about a braveheart — Inspector Madhukar Zende, an officer of the once-feared Bombay Police. Zende relied on native wit, intuition, and a bit of heart — and not much else — to nab Interpol’s most-wanted ‘Bikini Killer,’ Charles Sobhraj, in 1986. But this film charts a different course, veering into parody, with Manoj Bajpayee playing a bumbling Inspector Zende, on the trail of the “slithery snake” — the world’s most notorious criminal, Carl Bhojraj. (For legal reasons, Charles Sobhraj is referred to as Carl Bhojraj in the film).
Charles Sobhraj’s sleazy exploits
Bajpayee models his blundering, good-hearted cop on Steve Martin’s most popular character, the French detective Jacques Clouseau from the Pink Panther movies. In one scene, sporting a pencil-thin moustache, he has Bhojraj by the neck and tightly purses his lips in Clouseau-esque fashion, muttering with glee in accented English: “You are under arrest, Carl.”
Also read: How Charles Sobhraj, an escape artist, turned into a cold-blooded murderer
Undeniably, the main draw of Inspector Zende is Bajpayee. The accomplished actor slips with ease into the role of a middle-class government servant living in a chawl with his pretty, comely wife (Girija Oak), who fasts for his long life every Saturday. He’s a born family man, who knows how to lovingly joust with his wife — affectionately calling her the “commissioner” of the house — and keeps her happy, even as he tries to stay one step ahead of the dreaded criminal he’s tracking. But Bajpayee’s hands are tied; he’s unable to truly show off his comic skills, let down as he is by the writing. (The film is written and helmed by debut director Chinmay Mandlekar, a well-known Marathi actor.)
The main draw of Inspector Zende is Bajpayee. The accomplished actor slips with ease into the role of a middle-class government servant living in a chawl with his pretty, comely wife (Girija Oak).
Most of the humour is lost, weighed down by laboured dialogues. When the Director General of Police (Sachin Khedekar) assigns Inspector Zende the critical task of capturing the cunning international criminal Carl (Jim Sarbh), after the latter escapes from Tihar Jail, Zende proudly tells his boss: “Sir, I will be the mongoose with no tail and two legs to catch a venomous snake like Carl.”
Also read: Serial killer Charles Sobhraj to be released from Nepal jail after 19 years
Some overused tropes — like the unsmiling cop colleague who never cracks a smile, or Zende’s supposedly humorous banter with his DGP boss beside a swimming pool after letting Carl slip away from Bombay — fall flat. Bajpayee seated on his child’s tricycle during a DGP-chaired meeting at his house to discuss a top “secret mission” also is not even remotely funny.
The film picks up pace only after Bajpayee sheds the pouting act and the gags, and finally gets down to the business of capturing Carl. Zende, who is handed the case since he had nabbed Carl once before in the 1970s, is dispatched to Goa with a team to hunt down the serial killer, who seems to murder without any particular motive. But audiences may already be weary of watching Sobhraj’s sleazy exploits, having seen them portrayed more chillingly in Black Warrant and the BBC series The Serpent.
A light-hearted watch
In Inspector Zende, however, the focus is firmly on the down-to-earth hero from the Bombay Police, while Jim Sarbh, hidden under an ill-fitting wig, doesn’t have much to do. He says almost nothing, staring deadpan into the camera without evoking even faint terror in the viewer. There isn’t even a glimmer of the underlying menace that defined this serial killer in the BBC production, for example.
For legal reasons, Charles Sobhraj is referred to as Carl Bhojraj in the film. Jim Sarbh, who plays the infamous gangster, is hidden under an ill-fitting wig, and doesn’t have much to do.
The film works best when Zende and his men rely solely on their intelligence to track the fugitive. Set in the mid-1980s, these cops aren’t even armed with guns, let alone fancy gadgets. The ending finally delivers laughs, as the Goa Police scramble to stop Zende and his team from nabbing Carl and stealing the glory. Keep an eye out for the real Madhukar Bapurao Zende, who makes a brief appearance in the film.
To lend drama to the chase, which is the basic premise of the film, the background score initially borrows from R.D. Burman’s zingy track “Duniya Mein Logon Ko” from Rajesh Khanna’s 1972 film Apna Desh. This sets the tone for the film’s own quirky original number, “Charlie Baby, where the hell are you?”, which plays as Zende’s team hunts Sobhraj through Goa’s nightclubs. The Goan sequences are well shot, and as Bajpayee hits the hippie trail, you almost expect Zeenat Aman to pop up on screen, drag on a chillum, and break into her languorous “Dum Maaro Dum.”
Inspector Zende isn’t as fast-paced as Saare Jahan Se Accha, but it’s a light-hearted watch, sustained largely by Bajpayee. At its heart, the film is a salute to the middle-class hero. Early on, Zende explains to his wife why he feels compelled to take on the dangerous task of hunting a merciless serial killer. He tells her that the person who prevents others from being wronged is a “true decent man” — and he wants to be that man. These are the heroes who are usually overlooked and never feted, until Bollywood decides to make a film about them.
(Inspector Zende streams on Netflix from September 5)
