Inspector Zende tells, with a wink and a grin, the story of how a Mumbai police officer pursued a notorious fugitive. The Hindi film, written and directed by Chinmay Mandlekar to resemble an Amar Chitra Katha comic, is out on Netflix.
Manoj Bajpayee plays Madhukar Zende, one of Mumbai’s original khaki-clad daredevils who functioned at a time when criminals actually feared the law, Bajpayee’s voiceover tells us. These rogues do not include Carl Bhojraj (Jim Sarbh), who is the fraudster and murderer Charles Sobhraj in all but name.
Carl has landed in Tihar Jail in Delhi after a string of crimes, including murdering and burning women in their swimwear. Carl coolly escapes Tihar one night and then hotfoots it to Mumbai and eventually Goa, from where he hopes to leave the country.
Contemptuous of humankind but especially of the police, Carl has forgotten that it was Zende who had once arrested him. Zende hasn’t, and vows to recapture Carl.
The well-picked supporting cast includes Sachin Khedekar as Zende’s boss Purandare, Girija Oak as Zende’s wife Vijaya, Bhalchandra Kadam as the goofy constable Patil, and Harish Dudhade as the severe-looking inspector Jacob.
Mandlekar, the actor who makes his directing debut with this film, treats Zende’s best-known exploit like one big joke. The shallow, silly script feels like an early draft, with barely any attention paid to Carl and too much focus on the hunt for him.
Inspector Zende often resembles a tacky old Hindi movie in which cops arrive at the scene after the criminal has bolted. Some of the parodic humour is contributed by Zende, an old-fashioned specimen of law enforcement who doggedly pursues his target.
Zende’s larger-than-life personality was the subject of Akshay Shah’s unreleased documentary Zende (2023). Shah’s film is an excellent introduction to a policeman who takes his work utterly seriously but his reputation as a “supercop”, not so much. Inspector Zende threatens to reach the same conclusion, but never does.
Charles Sobhraj too has inspired several films and shows. Randeep Hooda in Main Aur Charles (2015), Tahar Rahim in The Serpent (2021) and Sidhant Gupta in Black Warrant (2025) are among the actors who have played the Indian-Vietnamese-French and wholly amoral serial lawbreaker.
In Inspector Zende, Jim Sarbh is bewigged and bored as the latest fictionalised iteration of a ruthless crook. With Carl being so poorly written, Sarbh has little to work with beyond a French accent.
Manoj Bajpayee is more in tune with the 112-minute movie’s cartoonish tone. Bajpayee does a decent job with whatever was handed to him, playing Zende with the correct dose of sobriety and self-deprecation.
Also read:
The former ACP of Mumbai Police recalls how he arrested serial killer Charles Sobhraj
Documentary on Madhukar Zende goes beyond his image as the captor of serial killer Charles Sobhraj
Charles Sobhraj hated India, but the country got to him in the end
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