Main Aur Charles

I don't understand all the high ratings of this mess. If you know the history of Charles, this is impossibly messed up! Seems to want to portray Charles as some sort of cult hero, rather than the cold blooded killer con man psychopath. The book Serpentine is most excellent, and highly recommended if you want to know the true history.

Based on the life of notorious serial killer Charles Sobhraj, 'Main Aur Charles' is a richly acted biopic, about a notorious man. Even as a film, its decent, but not as sharp as one expects it to be.

'Main Aur Charles' is Inspired by true events and told from the perspective of respected Indian cop, Amod Kanth who handled the notorious case of serial killer, Charles Sobhraj.

'Main Aur Charles' aces as far the performances are concerned. Randeep Hooda is appropriately creepy as the serial killer, flaunting a french accent & alluring women with sheer effectiveness. Adil Hussain nails every bit of Amod Kanth, portraying the honest cop to the fullest. Richa Chadda is absolutely stunning as Mira, Charles's girlfriend, who, without any remorse, defends the criminal. Its an eerie performance, performed majestically.

On the flip-side, 'Main Aur Charles' is unevenly Written. Prawaal Raman's Screenplay begins on an excellent note & the series of events that follow, manage to arrest your attention aptly. Its the second-hour, that begins to fall. The pace drops & the drama in this hour, lacks the punch. Even the culmination, doesn't leave a big impact. Raman's Writing is great partly & ordinary otherwise. Raman's Direction, on the other-hand, oozes style. The Cinematography & The Editing, deserve a special mention.

On the whole, 'Main Aur Charles' stuns in parts, sadly, not entirely.

After a TV series or two and a documentary or two, the infamous Charles Sobhraj on the big screen. His story is certainly interesting and the TV series from the 1980s managed to translate his reported hypnotic charisma on the screen, as far as they could go in the 80's of course. And this is this movie's first problem, that when it tries to convey the atmosphere of the 1970's, it fails to do that but rather gives it the look of made-for-TV cinematography from the 80's. It's bad, really bad and poor acting doesn't help. I couldn't make it past the 30 minute mark. The director and the cameraman should go study modern Korean cinema to see how to pull off period atmosphere while still using modern cinematography technology and techniques.

Which brings me to a question; what is it with people from India and rating movies? Why do you keep giving Indian movies unrealistically high scores? With more reviewers they somewhat come down but it's still not realistic and there's no by nationality breakdown in the stats. You act as if it's somehow unpatriotic to give a movie from one's own country a bad score. It's not.

For those interested in Sobhraj I recommend Neville's book.

One of the underrated movies of Bollywood. Really it worth lot more name and fame and hooda steals the show. Overall a great film.

This film is a good portrayal of Charles Sobhraj's life and journey of crime & passion in India. The story unfolds in a non-linear pattern.We view it as pieces of memories of people, whom Charles has befriended. The plot starts from how he escaped from Thailand after murders and comes to India and starts conning people ,getting jailed and jail-break. This is the first quarter of film. The film shows his charisma,seductiveness, shrewdness along with his desire for evil.The screenplay is tight,without any unnecessary stretch. Then we find how his accomplices helps him for jail-break and what a master-planner he is.

The title is apt as the film is from the perspective of Amod Kant, police officer who pursues him.Their encounters are very intense.

Randeep Hooda as Charles,with his french-Vietnamese accent,charm,seduction is brilliant. Adil Hussain as the good, stern, moral police officer is perfect. Richa Chadda also plays a bold part with ease.

The cinematography is excellent. The sets sometimes lacked the look of 70s & 80s. Direction-4/5 Acting-4/5 Plot-3/5