‘Main Aur Charles’ Is Lifted By Randeep Hooda’s Superb Performance

Someone recently asked me, who is the most underrated actor in India today.

The only thing that keeps you watching is Randeep Hooda.

Charles Shobraj is not only escaped from many high-security jails while he also falsified the judicial system in India.

Verdict: Catch Main Aur Charles for a well-executed peek into the life and times of one of the world’s most notorious criminals. The movie claims to be a work of fiction, but there is no doubt about the inspiration for its cool, magnetic and ruthless anti-hero – the half Vietnamese and half Indian con artist and smuggler who racked up a series of convictions for murder and robbery in the 1970s, and who is now lodged in a prison in Kathmandu. By earning a new sentence, Charles ducks the deadline on a time-bound death warrant.

The basic plot of the movie revolves around the most wanted criminal and killer Charles Shobraj.

Based on a real serial killer – Charles Sobhraj, Main Aur Charles is a fine attempt at deconstructing a person you have definitely heard or read about. But despite the overwhelming number of photos in police record, Kand feels the only man who can recognise Charles is Sudhakar Jhende, the cop who detained him 10 years ago. His modus operandi is a simple one. It’s not that Main Aur Charles is hard to sit through even when it’s meandering: there is a fair amount of pulpy pleasure to be had in Randeep Hooda’s preening and commitment to a French accent (not much worse than Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s in The Walk), Anuj Rakesh Dhawan’s flashy cinematography, and the consistently overripe dialogue.

The screenplay assumes a certain amount of familiarity with the Sobhraj’s cases and conduct, focusing instead much more on his character – an exceptional manipulator, liar, charmer and user. Raman’s lack of control over the narrative is balanced by his understanding of Charles’s personality. Randeep Hooda’s beautifully judged and controlled performance conveys his character’s mystique. Just like it’s deadly subject, Charles Sobhraj.

The sequence gives just the right flavor of casual conversational psycho-babble to a life that is so morally muddled, we wonder how Sobhraj lives with his own conscience. Especially cliched is Mira’s advocacy of Charles’ many qualities. And succeeds in keeping his main rival, top cop Amod Kanth (Adil Hussain), off balance and continually enraged as the chase ensues.

The second half assumes far greater urgency as a portrait of a criminal emerges through the reminiscences of Mira and others whose lives have been impacted by Charles’ charms. Directed by Prawaal Raman, who made his debut with the interesting Darna Mana Hai but somehow lost his way with movies like Darling, this one seems to be a comeback of sorts for him. It may be a move that intends to get straight to the point, but here the point is seeing bare backs of countless women and Charles eyeing his prey. But it also catches him in the solitude of his cell, and with his accomplices – moments when he shows his commitment to meticulously controlling the story and images that get played in the media.

The pace of the film is deliberate, not given to “thrill” us with drama. It takes a rather bold call to remain sober and deliberate.