Inspector Zende movie review: Manoj Bajpayee-Jim Sarbh’s patchy film fails to leave an impact

On the face of it, Manoj Bajpayee as Zende (pronounced with an h, as in Zhende, as he keeps telling people) and Jim Sarbh as the snaky Carl Bhojraj — yes, this is the kind of film where every other name is the real one except the antagonist’s, for reasons best known to the creators — should have been a perfect match. But the attempt at a serio-comic tone falls flat with only an occasional leap or two, with the writing struggling to match the audacity of the criminal and the enterprise of his nemesis.

Zende’s ears perk up when he hears of the Tihar jailbreak (on March 16, 1986, we are informed specifically) when Bhojraj and a few of his acolytes break out of the most heavily protected prison in Asia, with the guards keeling over after consuming sedative-laced kheer. Zende had caught the charismatic killer many years back, and he is convinced that he will be the one to pull it off again.

After flubbing a near-capture in Mumbai, Zende is even more determined that he and his colleagues will rectify the mistake, and when he gets a tip that Bhojraj and co may be lurking in Goa, he swings into action. These are all matters of record; I’m not giving away spoilers. Chief cop (Sachin Khedekar) is supportive, as is Zende’s loving ‘puran-poli’ making wife (Girija Oak) even if she doesn’t approve of her spouse hanging out with the raffish company surrounding Bhojraj. There are a couple of sweet interludes between the two; a few of the cat-and-mouse bits shared between Zende and his team are mildly amusing.

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Overall, though, neither Bajpayee’s sturdy comfort with being Zende ‘with an h’ nor Sarbh’s attempts at inhabiting the serial killer’s skin leave the kind of impact that they should: the latter does well with the look, but doesn’t get enough of a chance to exude the oily menace Sobhraj was notorious for. She (indicating a ship about to sail on which he intends to escape) leaves for the US on ze 7th, intones Sarbh-Bhojraj, trying for a French accent. It is patchy, as is the film.

Inspector Zende movie cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Jim Sarbh, Sachin Khedekar, Girija Oak, Bhalchandra Kadam, Harish Dudhade, Bharat Savale, Nitin Bhajan, Onkar Raut
Inspector Zende movie director: Chinmay Mandlekar
Inspector Zende movie rating: 2 stars