He is the killer combination of crime and charisma (quite literally), and for pop culture content inspired by true crime, French killer Charles Sobhraj is a gift that keeps giving.
He has been given many monikers. Charles Sobhraj is notoriously known as the 'Bikini Killer' because according to reports, the victims he preyed upon in the late 1970s were young hippies who were found dead in their swimsuits when pulled out from the sea. He killed at least 10 backpackers in Southeast Asia.
Then, of course, there's his name 'The Serpent'. He gained this nickname for his ability to slip through the fingers of the authorities across countries. A British crime drama, starring French actor Tahar Rahim as Charles Sobhraj, borrowed its title from this very name of the killer.
His suave, mild-mannered and charming personality made one feel the centre of his world. A bespectacled psychopath with his signature mop of hair... A manipulative criminal who ran the entire empire from the dreaded Tihar Jail and was well liked by fellow prisoners and cops alike... A keen observer of people who could read them at the back of his hand and get them what they want through the oldest trick in the book -- jugaad... Filmmakers love affair with Charles Sobhraj seems to be an unending one and for good reason, Inspector Zende being the latest one.
Inspector Zende
On March 16, 1986, Charles Sobhraj and six other inmates escaped from Delhi's high-security Tihar Jail after feeding the jail staff drugs-laced sweets, grapes and fruit cream in the garb of celebrating a fellow prisoner's birthday.
This is the set-up of the upcoming Netflix film Inspector Zende where Jim Sarbh plays the master of deception called 'Carl Bhojraj', obviously based on the real-life Charles Sobhraj. The quirky tone of the film differs from previous films and shows who dealt with Charles Sobhraj and his exploits in a sombre manner.
This 'Carl Bhojraj' jumps on the tables of the prison mess as inmates and staff lie unconscious around him, celebrating his escape from the jail. His fashion game is on point with his dark sunglasses, tailored suits, and a signature peak cap.
It is Inspector Madhukar B Zende, a middle-aged Bombay cop essayed by Manoj Bajpayee, who caught 'Carl Bhojraj' 15 years ago who is tasked with apprehending the high-profile criminal once again.
When the cigarette-smoking French killer spots his 'Wanted' poster, he leaves an autograph for the Bombay Police on it, reading, "I love you Bombay Police!" He smiles, he dares, he taunts the authorities with his style intact.
He may come across as a people's person but he doesn't leave any stone unturned in getting what he wants. He's not the nice guy as much as he may come across.
Black Warrant
Sidhant Gupta, who was one of the breakout stars of Vikramaditya Motwane's Jubilee, was entrusted with the role of Charles Sobhraj in the filmmaker's next series Black Warrant (2025). And the actor didn't disappoint.
Sidhant Gupta, even in his extended cameo appearance in Black Warrant, was a scene stealer. Sidhant Gupta as Charles Sobhraj gets a great introduction in the first episode of this Netflix series where he does what he does best - deceives. The actor also put on a bit of a French accent to bring plausibility to the role. There were also allegations of glorifying Charles Sobhraj in Black Warrant.
Responding to the criticism at the time, Sidhant Gupta said it was his chance to play the "greatest actor" in the world.
"If he'd have done the right thing, people would have called him a genius. But because he has done wrong things, we call him a mastermind, a term well suited for criminals. At the end of the day, he had a gifted mind...
"In real life, that's all he is doing as that's where he gets his kick, by fooling everyone across Europe and Asia... How does he think about all this? How is it all possible? Call him conman, call him magician, he is an enigma," the actor had said earlier this year.
The Serpent
This taut British crime drama follows a Dutch diplomat, Herman Knippenberg, who investigates the disappearance of tourists and seeks to bring Charles Sobhraj to justice. French actor Tahar Rahim as Charles Sobhraj was equal parts menacing and charming. The show focused on Charles Sobhraj's famed moniker The Serpent about how he was adept at the cat-and-mouse game with law enforcement along with his romantic relationship with his accomplice and Canadian serial killer.
In an interview with The Guardian, Tahar Rahim said he usually starts building a character from the inside, trying to develop some relationship between him and the part that he is supposed to play.
But "psychologically" he found nothing in common between him and Charles Sobhraj. Instead, Tahar Rahim saw him as an "animal".
"Regular people, balanced people, we don't know what it is to not have empathy. He's a murderer, a manipulator. He's what you don't want to be. Those who had met him talked about how he moved and spoke, and I started to assemble the puzzle. I thought of him as an animal. Of course, a serpent. But which one? Ah - a cobra. It stares at you. Then boom! - it strikes.
"It's in our nature to want to find out about him. The less you know, the more you're attracted. Fascination and repulsion - a very human feeling," the actor said in this 2020 interview.
Main Aur Charles
Randeep Hooda played Charles Sobhraj in Main Aur Charles, a 2015 Hindi crime film. The movie is told from the perspective of Amod Kanth, a police officer involved in capturing this most-wanted criminal. Packed with oodles of charm and manipulation, how Charles Sobhraj went on a killing spree targeting international backpackers and breaking out of multiple jails forms the core plot of Main Aur Charles.
About playing Charles Sobhraj, Randeep Hooda in a 2014 interview called the serial killer a "very stylish man".
In another conversation, the actor said he had heard about how "dangerous and smart" Charles Sobhraj is.
"Articles regarding him would be printed in papers and all the people in my family used to talk about him. Honestly, I never thought that I would get a chance to play him someday... As it is a real life character, the difficult part is the language and understanding the mindset of Charles.
"Whomsoever we asked about him, had his/her own version of the man. So we had to spend a lot of time understanding what this person is really all about. I read extensively about him, saw a lot of documentaries and read lots of newspaper articles as a part of my preparation," he had said.
Charles Sobhraj was released from a Nepalese prison in December 2022 after spending nearly 20 years imprisoned for murders committed in the 1970s. A free man living in France now, Charles Sobhraj never admitted to murdering anyone, but he has been immortialised across several mediums in pop culture by different actors.
