Films made about real life villains always make for an interesting watch, provided the director treats the subject with the sincerity it deserves. Considering the fact that Charles Sobhraj is one of India's most infamous baddies, it was but natural that a film about his exploits would be made, though doing it justice remains a different matter altogether.

Biopics can go either way, depending on the popularity of the person being essayed. Serial killer Charles Sobhraj, on whom the film is based, was known to deceive with his charismatic personality, enough to subjugate even the sharpest of minds. Randeep Hooda, who plays Sobhraj in the film, manages to look the part, right from the tweed caps down to the Oxfords.

Indian filmmakers should learn from Main Aur Charles and look to biopics more often. They'll get quality material for their films and the audiences will get engaging tales on characters that are a lot more believable and layered. Prawaal Raman certainly made the best film of his life trailing the exploits of Charles Sobhraj in India. He's got Randeep Hooda to thank in big measure because the actor relives Sobhraj in a power packed performance.

The most important thing in a biopic is the actor who plays the role of the personality the film is based on. In this regard, director Prawaal Raman couldn't possibly have got a better bet than Randeep Hooda to play Charles Sobhraj. Some credit to the director and a lot of it to the actor that Randeep lives, breathes and takes on even the body language of the 'Bikini Killer' so fantastically well that it is difficult to imagine anybody else playing that role.

The decision not to cast the Charles Sobhraj story in the mould of an average Bollywood underworld drama serves writer-director Prawaal Raman's efficiently mounted biopic rather well. Audiences weaned on less demanding Hindi thrillers might find the first half of Main Aur Charles a bit of a challenge to decipher. Its pace is sluggish and the plot detailing is somewhat hazy.

The intriguing personality of 'Bikini Killer' Charles Shobhraj handed Prawaal Raman the perfect recipe to create an enticing thriller on the platter. By casting Randeep Hooda, the director-writer also ensured that he had a face as charming as Shobhraj's. However, what he has ended up making is a confused film.

Those with memories which stretch back to the 70s and 80s will remember the tales of Charles Sobhraj, a serial killer who preyed mostly upon nubile young women. But instead of being remembered as a dastardly criminal, which is who he really was, Sobhraj, equal parts French-Vietnamese-Indian, used smoke-mirror tactics to fool his victims as well as the public at large.

The first word used to describe Charles Sobhraj in Prawaal Raman's Main Aur Charles is 'hypnotic.' This would be fine -- even obvious -- were Raman to kick things off with a pair of bikini-clad girls gushing about him, victims-to-be for the famed serial killer, but that is the keyword used at a police briefing targeting Charles. The aim is not to flatter but to concede: Few remained unsusceptible to Sobhraj's mesmeric charm.

Main Aur Charles chronicles around the life of charismatic con artist and serial killer Charles Sobhraj who rose to fame in the early 80s and came to be known as the 'Bikini killer'. Charles' approach was to befriend his victims, mainly foreign tourists who moved across Thailand, Goa and Nepal on hippie trails, drug them and steal their passports.

Prawaal Raman does a commendable job of recreating the 60s-70s. He also gets his protagonist's physicality and smugness bang on. Working on a wafer-thin account given to him by the real-life Delhi cop, Amod Kanth, Raman still manages to infuse life (at least partly) into this film and into the life of the notorious killer.

The film starts off with an overarching tone of 70s' and 80s Bollywood (think Bachchan in Don, complete with bell bottoms et al). Music and stylized visuals tell us about Sobhraj's dubious history, which is steeped in the hippi culture in Thailand. Soon,the screenplay moves on to Sobhraj's imprisonment in India in the Eighties and his famous jail-break.