Inspector Zende Review: When elusive and charming serial killer Carl Bhojraj breaks out of prison, Inspector Madhukar Zende gets hot on his trail once more to bring the killer to justice.
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Inspector Zende Netflix Cast
Manoj Bajpayee, Jim Sarbh, Sachin Khedekar, Girija Oak, Bhalchandra Kadam, Vaibhav Mangale, Harish Dudhade, Onkar Raut, Bharat Savale, Devaang Bagga
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Inspector Zende Movie Writer & Director
Chinmay Mandlekar
The film has a runtime of 111 minutes.
Inspector Zende Review
After watching a version of Charles Shobhraj in this year’s Black Warrant, we watch Shobhraj once more in the newest crime thriller, Inspector Zende, which depicts a Mumbai cop trying to nab the elusive serial killer after he makes a run for it from Tihar Jail. However, unlike Vikramaditya Motwane’s fantastic series, Inspector Zende is a much more jokey film that tries to balance its crime and comedy aspects.
The film is based on the real-life Madhukar B. Zende’s incredible achievement of nabbing Shobhraj not just once (in 1971) but twice (in 1986). It’s mostly light-hearted and makes for an entertaining time, with Manoj Bajpayee turning out to be one of the best parts of the drama. The Netflix film follows Zende as he traces Bhojraj’s trail after breaking out of Tihar Jail, and it is a somewhat thrilling ordeal, although it focuses mostly on being light-hearted rather than anything else.
In that regard, I think the film doesn’t take itself too seriously and brings to us a slice of history with enticing charm. I found myself charmed by Bajpayee’s Zende as he balances his life at home and his workplace, gunning to bring peace to his city and taking criminals off the streets above all else.
However, there are aspects of the show that feel half-baked and unfinished. I found Jim Sarbh to be trying too hard as the enigmatic and very dangerous Shobhraj (or Bhojraj). Although I am a fan of Sarbh most of the time, I don’t think I was convinced by his portrayal of the serial killer here. Also, whoever chose that wig for the actor really did him dirty. That thing doesn’t move an inch; it’s a crime against humanity.
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Moving on, considering it’s based on real-life incidents, I am not surprised that it’s not an insanely convoluted ride. However, I must say that the jokey nature of the film did get to me sometimes and didn’t make the film thrilling in any way. Without knowing the story beforehand, you can guess that Zende will nab Bhojraj in the end and apart from a few moments, the film feels predictable. Some of the comedy can feel silly, and although I did laugh from time to time, it’s not enough considering how hard the film goes with the comedy.
Final Thoughts
Inspector Zende is fine. If you’re bored and need something light-hearted and fun without feeling utterly depressed by the end, this one’s a good bet. However, it’s not memorable because we have watched this too many times and the comedy feels unnecessary more often than not.
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