New Delhi: This Friday, Randeep Hooda will be seen on the silver screen as Charles Sobhraj. The movie ‘Main Aur Charles' is a biopic unraveling the mystery that surrounds Sobhraj. Born to an unwed Vietnamese shop girl and an Indian merchant in Saigon, Vietnam, he earned French citizenship.

Charles has often been called the charming killer, who wooed his victims with his charisma. Between 1972 and 1982, he was implicated in more than 20 killings. All his victims were drugged, strangled, beaten or burned.

Before Randeep tells you what went inside the notorious killer's mind, we bring you 10 facts which will give an insight about his life:

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1. He was born on April 6, 1944 during World War 2. Sobhraj was denied paternity by his father, something which hurt him deeply. In his diary, he wrote, “I will make you regret that you have missed your father's duty.”
2. Sobhraj was first sent to prison when he was 19 years old, in the year 1963. In jail he manipulated the officials to give him special favours like being allowed to keep books in his cell, better food etc. After he was freed from his term, he started mingling with the criminal underworld.
3. He proposed to Chantal Compagnon, a young Parisian woman, but was arrested the same day for evading police while driving a stolen car. He was sentenced to 8 months in prison and married Chantal upon release.
4. He followed a similar fashion in hunting his victims. He used to let his charm work its magic on people; he befriended them and later either drugged and looted them or killed them. Charles was fluent in many languages and he is an expert in gems and psychology. He believed that he was doing society a favour by killing people as he always asserted that he never murdered good people.
5. Most of the people Sobhraj killed in the 1970s and 1980s were young backpackers from western countries, travelling the ‘Asian Hippie Trail'. Two of his victims, Teresa Knowlton and Charmayne Carrou, were wearing swimsuits when he killed them, hence earning him the name ‘Bikini Killer'.
6. He was also called ‘The Serpent', because of his numerous escapes from prison. Sobhraj had managed to escape prison in Afghanistan, Greece, Iran and India. In 1971, he escaped an Indian prison.
7. He was re-arrested in 1976, but 10 years later he made an even more audacious escape: this time by throwing a birthday party in which guards and prisoners alike were invited. Grapes and biscuits handed around the guests were secretly injected with sleeping pills, knocking out everyone except Sobhraj and four other escapees.
8. During his stay in Tihar jail, he is said to have an affair with his lawyer Sneha Sneger. His affair was only an illusion while he was planning his escape. He managed to flee from the prison, only to be caught a month later and imprisoned till 1997. By the time of his release in 1997, the 20 year time-frame for him to be tried in Bangkok, Thailand had lapsed.
9. In 2003, he was arrested in a Kathmandu casino for allegedly travelling on a false passport and for murders of a Canadian man and an American woman which he allegedly carried out 28 years ago.
10. David Neville wrote a book, ‘The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj'. It was based on telephonic conversations Neville had with him, although Sobhraj later denied telling anything to Neville.