Jim Sarbh is no stranger to playing real-life people on screen. He played Malik Kafur, Delhi Sultan Allauddin Khilji's general, in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat, and in the Sony LIV series Rocket Boys, he essayed Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the pioneering nuclear physicist.
In Inspector Zende, Jim Sarbh plays Carl Bhojraj, a character based on notorious serial killer Charles Bhojraj. The Hindi film stars Manoj Bajpayee in the title role of the real-life former Mumbai Police cop Madhukar B Zende who caught serial killer Charles Sobhraj twice.
There have been many onscreen representations of Charles Sobhraj, including Black Warrant, The Serpent and Main Aur Charles, and that's why it was challenging for Jim Sarbh to play Carl Bhojraj.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV, the actor said, "The person that my character is based on has a lot out about him. You can watch his interviews, there have been many representations of the man before. So, I avoided watching any other representation because I didn't want to imitate somebody else's interpretation of the character. I tried to go straight to the source material of which there are many interviews."
The problem starts when there are interviews to make the comparison, he added. "Then, it becomes important to imitate some of the things like the quality of the voice, the accent, the stillness, the distance, how a sociopath does... They are acting, they say what you need them to say and hear in order to get their job done.
"And, once you're gone, they go back to neutral. They aren't feeling those emotions inside so it's much easier to manipulate people as a consequence because they don't get swayed in the moment. They are emotionless to an extent, he's very clearly a narcissist. He's very obsessed with his appearance and vanity. He considers himself a gentleman. So, I watched those videos and tried to see how I could add to the part," Jim Sarbh explained.
The actor, also known for starring in Neerja, A Death In The Gunj, Made in Heaven, and Gangubai Kathiawadi, also weighed in on what makes the true crime genre so popular.
"People are obsessed... Documentaries about solving murders and true crime stories. There's a phrase 'the fascination with the abomination', anything that seems unholy, strange, odd or how can a person have done this weirdly fascinates human beings and it has since the beginning of time.
"Which is why gladiators... you watch gruesome, horrible things that you would not want to watch happening in your own house but there's some strange, odd fascination with it. So, then the person that catches him, outsmarts him becomes very interesting to us."
Inspector Zende director Chinmay Mandlekar, who also sat down for an interview with NDTV, opened up about why he chose this story for his directorial debut.
"I didn't choose it, it happened on the way. We started working on this film a few years ago when this idea came up that the criminal's story has been told multiple times but the cop's story hasn't been told.
"When we started researching we found that the cop's side is equally interesting and also a little bit humorous. We had to stop for a few years in between due to Covid. Post Covid, Netflix came on board and the film happened the way it has happened," he said.
Has the real Zende, who retired from Mumbai Police in 1996 as Assistant Commissioner, watched the film?
Chinmay Mandlekar revealed, "The real Zende has not seen the film. He was very gracious about it because even when we finished the script, I wanted to read it out to him because it's based on him. But he said, 'Don't read it out. I'm not worried. Aapne theek hee kiya hoga'."
Inspector Zende started streaming on Netflix on September 5.
Also Read | Inspector Zende Review: Manoj Bajpayee, Jim Sarbh Are Phenomenal In This Netflix True Crime Story
