Bollywood bad boy Dutt to play French 'Bikini Killer'

MUMBAI (AFP) — Bollywood bad boy Sanjay Dutt, out of jail on bail for a weapons conviction, is set to play convicted French killer Charles Sobhraj who is prison in Nepal for the murder of an American woman in the 1970s.

French national Sobhraj, who is half-Vietnamese, half-Indian, has been linked to at least a dozen poisonings, killings and robberies of backpackers across Asia in the 1970s, which led to the "Bikini Killer" sobriquet.

"Charles is a complex character," Prawal Raman, who will direct the film, told reporters late Monday.

"He is a charming man with a dangerous mind and dangerous intentions. I feel the only actor who could fit this profile in Bollywood is Sanjay Dutt."

The droopy-eyed Dutt, a one-time heavy drug user known as Bollywood's bad boy, has also done jail time, serving a total of 18 months as he awaited trial on a weapons ...