Netflix India seems fascinated with Charles Sobhraj, the infamous “Bikini Killer.” What’s interesting, though, is how the platform is presenting him in two completely different lights this year.
In Black Warrant, which premiered in January 2025, Sobhraj appears as the cold-blooded killer with unmatched charm. Sidhant Gupta plays the character. Based on the real-life memoir Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer, the series captures his manipulative presence inside prison. Here he is, menacing, mysterious, and dangerously magnetic a man who could win people over even as he terrified them. The show takes a dark, serious tone, treating Sobhraj as the dangerous legend he was.
Cut to Inspector Zende, arriving September 5 on Netflix, and suddenly Sobhraj is almost unrecognisable. Renamed Carl Bhojraj and played by Jim Sarbh, he becomes a quirky, comic villain pursued by Manoj Bajpayee’s relentless cop Madhukar Zende. The setting is 1980s Mumbai, but instead of dread and fear, the story brims with wit, banter, and a playful cat-and-mouse chase. It’s a satirical take, where the same character is used to entertain with humour and irony rather than menace.
By placing these two projects side by side, Netflix India has managed something unusual. It has turned one of the most notorious criminals of modern times into both a chilling villain and a comic foil. For audiences, that means the same man can either make your skin crawl or make you laugh, depending on which title you stream.