Real to reel: When real-life criminals inspired Hollywood and Bollywood films

She was 14. He was 19. They met, fell in love and went on to kill 11 individuals, together with the daddy, mom and sister of the lady. Two felony lovers chased by the police, on a highway to nowhere. That is stuff that Hollywood movies thrive on. On this case, artwork solely needed to copy life.

Charles Starkweather was solely 19 when he went on a homicide spree that ended the lives of 11 individuals in Nebraska and Wyoming in 1958. That he was accompanied in these actions by his then 14-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate added a layer of intrigue and darkish thriller round it. This was a narrative ready to be retold.

Naturally, Hollywood couldn’t resist this for too lengthy and a movie was made in 1963, titled The Sadist. Then got here the 1973 movie Badlands by legendary director Terence Malick. It was in actual fact the debut movie of Malick who would then go on to make US classics corresponding to Days of Heaven, The Skinny Pink Line, The Tree of Life and The New World.

Badlands is on no account a trustworthy documentation of the real-life antics of Charles Starkweather and Carol; it was slightly ‘impressed’ by their final days. It had Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek in title roles who managed to deliver forth the informal deadliness with the supreme hollowness of their characters’ actions.

The yr was 1934. The our bodies of infamous gangsters Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Champion Barrow had been dropped at Arcadia after they had been gunned down in an ambush within the Louisiana woods on Could 23. The inhabitants of the sleepy city quickly swelled from 2,000 to 12,000 inside hours, in keeping with many stories. Folks arrived in teams by practice, horseback and even by aircraft. The town ran out of drinks and sandwiches.

In what might be a mixture of misplaced hero worship, memento looking and darkish tourism, individuals tried to grab no matter they might from the criminals. Together with physique components like hair and fingers. The police had a troublesome time controlling the loopy mob. Bonnie and Clyde had been recognized for financial institution robberies and the homicide of 11 individuals, together with law enforcement officials through the Nice Despair. Their ‘heroics’ had been steadily reported within the native media, typically with pictures they posed for, elevating them to people hero standing throughout their lifetime.

A minimum of three films and lots of TV productions had been primarily based on the lives of Bonnie and Clyde. The Bonnie Parker Story (1958), starring Dorothy Provine, Bonnie and Clyde (1967) directed by Arthur Penn and The Highwaymen directed by John Lee Hancock had been notable Hollywood productions.

The 1967 eponymous movie starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway just isn’t the primary movie on Bonnie and Clyde, however was stated to have glamourised the felony couple. The Netflix movie The Highwaymen, then again, recounts the story, slightly coldly, from the eyes of former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. It was Hamer’s relentless pursuit that introduced curtains on their felony profession in probably the most devastating method.

On March 12, 1993, a sequence of terrorist bomb blasts ripped by way of Mumbai, India’s business capital. There have been 12 in all, together with one on the Bombay Inventory Trade Constructing, the image of India’s monetary community. The blasts shook your entire nation to the core. 257 individuals misplaced their lives and over 1,400 individuals had been injured in a single day. The assaults had been allegedly organised by Indian fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim by way of his associates Tiger Memon and his brother Yaqub Memon. An enormous manhunt ensued after which a number of individuals together with Yaqub Memon had been captured and placed on trial.

Black Friday is an Indian movie in Hindi concerning the Mumbai serial blasts of 1993. The movie directed by Anurag Kashyap particulars the occasions that led to the blasts and the next police investigation. The movie is predicated on a e book by Indian creator and investigative journalist Hussain Zaidi. It portrays the position of Memon, his brother Yaqub and their associates who orchestrated serial blasts.

The Supreme Courtroom of India verdict that got here on 21 March 2013 upheld the demise sentence towards suspected ringleader Yakub. He was later executed on July 30, 2015. Tiger Memon was by no means caught.

Frank William Abagnale Jr was an American con artist and convicted felon. Born in New York in 1948, his first sufferer was his personal father. Abagnale was solely 15 at the moment. He later enlisted in US Navy however was discharged quickly. He moved on to automotive theft, stealing financial institution cheques, and impersonating authorities officers. In 1968, after many convictions and releases, he impersonated himself as a TWA pilot and moved to Louisiana. Abagnale was once more caught and convicted to 12 years in jail on June 2, 1969. He fled to Europe and was arrested in France, and served three months there. He was then extradited to Sweden for fraud and deported again to the US in 1970.

Again within the US, he once more began impersonating airline pilots and issuing dangerous checks. He was arrested after he cashed 10 pretend PanAm payroll cheques elsewhere. Escaped from jail and was picked up 4 days later. Sentenced to 10 years and extra 2 years for escaping from jail. 1975, he began a brand new profession as a safety guide and public speaker.

Abagnale Jr is a con little question however simply how large a con he’s nonetheless to be ascertained. be trigger he was typically discovered to be making tall claims as to the magnitude of his con jobs in a bid to subsist on his ‘fame’.

Catch Me If You Can is a Hollywood biographical drama directed by none apart from Steven Spielberg. The screenplay is predicated on Abagnale’s autobiography although he was by no means concerned with the movie. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in prime roles.

In January 1984, the charred physique of a movie consultant Okay J Chacko was present in a black Ambassador automotive on a nationwide freeway in Kerala, India. That was the start of the unravelling of some of the intriguing and sinister homicide plots within the state. A rich expatriate Sukumara Kurup was accused of killing Chacko to pretend his personal demise for insurance coverage cash. Chacko was forcibly poisoned and strangled to demise, it will emerge later. His physique was then burned contained in the automotive to make it tough to establish him and appear like it was Kurup who died within the accident. Kurup has been one in every of India’s most needed criminals and continues to evade arrest.

The film ‘Kurup’, which was concurrently launched in 5 languages, was primarily based the cold-blooded crime. Dulquer Salmaan performs the position of Kurup within the film, directed by Srinath Rajendran. The movie additionally options Indrajit Sukumaran, Shine Tom Chacko, Sunny Wein and Shobitha Dhulipal. ‘Kurup’ is at the moment streaming on Netflix. The Chacko homicide case additionally impressed two different Malayalam movies; NH 47 (1984), directed by Child and Pinneyum (2016) by Ador Gopalakrishnan.

Arushi Talwar, a 14-year-old lady from Noida, simply minutes away from the Indian capital of New Delhi, was discovered lifeless together with her throat slit in her bed room on Could 16, 2008. A day later, the physique of Nepalese home assist Hemraj was additionally discovered on the terrace of their home. The lady’s dad and mom, dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar had been despatched to jail initially by a courtroom. They walked free from jail on October 16. The double homicide of Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj stays an unsolved case.

The ugly double homicide has impressed two movies, Talvar and Rahasya, each of that are primarily based on the failed, murky investigation. ‘Talvar’ was directed by Meghna Gulzar with Irrfan Khan enjoying the principle position. The film clinched the Finest Tailored Screenplay on the 63rd Nationwide Movie Awards of India. It’s at the moment out there on Netflix. The film ‘Rahasya’ directed by Manish Gupta obtained beneficial evaluations and remained standard for 100 days on the field workplace.

Molly Bloom is a US entrepreneur, speaker and creator who was charged with working a high-stake poker recreation that attracted rich individuals and celebrities from Hollywood and sports activities. Earlier than this, she was into aggressive snowboarding (her mom was a ski and snowboard teacher and her brother was an Olympic skier) earlier than she suffered an harm whereas attempting to qualify for Olympics herself.

In 2007, Bloom began Molly Bloom Inc. as an occasion and catering firm to host poker tournaments. By 2008, the video games had moved on to non-public properties and resorts, with palms going as excessive as $4 million, in keeping with The Hollywood Reporter. Even the Russian mafia allegedly turned up and took half in her video games, in keeping with stories.

The FBI lastly stormed her place and arrested her in the midst of the night time. Defence lawyer Charlie Jaffey tells his consumer of the prosecutors’ provide to let her hold the cash and her freedom in return for all her exhausting drives containing playing information. Molly pleaded responsible and in 2014, she was sentenced to at least one yr of probation, a $200,00 high-quality and group service. She went on to write down an autobiography Molly’s Sport, which was later tailored into a movie by the identical title.

Molly’s Sport was written for the display and directed by Aaron Sorkin. The movie was launched in 2017 and starred Jessica Chastain within the lead position.

Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj Hotchand Bhawnani is the complete title of a French serial killer of Indian origin in any other case bluntly often called bikini killer. The conman and serial assassin Sobhraj was born in Saigon to an Indian father and a Vietnamese mom and his tryst with petty crimes began as an adolescent. Whereas he’s believed to have killed between 10- 20 vacationers in numerous Asian nations and was imprisoned in India for twenty years from 1977 to 97, solely 9 of his victims have been recognized for sure.

The Serpent was an eight-part British crime sequence produced by BBC One and Netflix on the lifetime of Charles Sobhraj whereas Most important Aur Charles is a Bollywood crime thriller primarily based on his life. Tahar Rahim essays the position of Sobhraj within the sequence.

Within the Bollywood model, after escaping from a high-security jail, Sobhraj turns into the goal of a large manhunt led by a honest cop who is decided to arrest him. The movie offers an in depth account of Sobhraj’s darkish deeds advised from the attitude of this police officer.

Written and directed by Prawaal Raman the movie stars Randeep Hooda, Adil Hussain, Alexx O’Nell, Anastasia Fullfina and Richa Chadda in lead roles.

In 1987, a gang posing as officers of India’s prime investigative company CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) raided a prime jewelry outlet in Mumbai. The lads arrived on the department and the chief of the workforce produced a search warrant. Safety cameras had been turned off they usually collected money and samples of jewelry from the outlet. The chief of the gang then promptly left the scene, by no means to be seen once more. It was later revealed that the chief, recognized by the title Mon Singh, had posted an advert within the newspaper beforehand and recruited the workforce of faux CBI officers after conducting an interview. The case has remained unsolved.

The Bollywood movie Particular 26 is directed by Neeraj Pandey. It contains a gang of tricksters who pose as authorities officers and rob outstanding politicians and businessmen of their black cash. When the true officers study these gangsters, they launch an investigation to entice them red-handed.

The film has Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Sheirgill, Anupam Kher and Kajal Aggarwal in lead roles.

Shahid Azmi, a local of Mumbai, was first accused of violence as an adolescent through the Bombay (now Mumbai) riots of 1992. Years later, he was booked on terror expenses and spent 7 years in jail. Whereas in jail, he took a legislation diploma and began practising as a felony lawyer as soon as launched. He focussed on defending the instances of those that he thought had been falsely accused of terror expenses. He was shot down in 2010 on the age of 32.

The Bollywood drama directed by Hansal Mehta traces the fascinating true story of this dedicated lawyer and human rights activist.

Rajkummar Rao performs the position of Shahid Azmi whereas Prabhleen Sandhu, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and KK Menon had been the opposite fundamental actors.

Raman Raghav was a serial killer energetic in Mumbai within the Sixties. A homeless man himself, poor slum dwellers and folks sleeping on pavements had been his fundamental targets. Police as soon as picked him up and let him go as they could not discover any proof towards him. He struck once more, police succeeded in arresting him after a manhunt. In his confession to the police, he admitted to killing 41 individuals, however it’s thought that the precise variety of victims might be a lot increased. Raman Raghavan was spared the demise sentence and he died in jail in 1995.

There have been a few movies that portrayed the lifetime of Raman Raghav and the one directed by Raman Raghav 2.0, is the most recent amongst them. The Bollywood movie stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vicky Kaushal and Sobhita Dhulipala in lead roles.

Bollywood director Sriram Raghavan additionally directed one other eponymous movie on Raman Raghav.

The homicide of the spouse’s lover by the husband caught the flamboyant of Indians within the mid-1900s. KM Nanavati was a commander within the Indian Navy who had settled down in Mumbai with an English-born spouse and their kids. The spouse fell in love with Prem Ahuja, a good friend of Nanavatis whereas the husband was away for lengthy durations of time. On understanding concerning the affair, Nanavati confronted the paramour and requested whether or not he’s keen to marry her and settle for their kids. When Prem Ahuja answered within the destructive, Nanavati shot lifeless Ahuja and surrendered himself to authorities. The incident occurred in 1959.

The Bollywood courtroom drama Rustom is basically primarily based on the real-life story of KM Nanavati and the incidents mentioned above.

The incident obtained unprecedented media protection and impressed a number of books and the 1973 movie Achanak and the 2019 internet sequence The Verdict, apart from Rustom.

Directed by Tinu Suresh Desai and written by Vipul Okay. Rawal, the movie Rustom stars Akshay Kumar, Ileana D’Cruz, Arjan Bajwa and Esha Gupta in lead roles.

Indian media govt Neeraj Grover was discovered lifeless in 2008 in Mumbai. Upcoming actress Maria Susairaj and her boyfriend had been accused of the homicide and arrested. At the moment Neeraj was serving to Maria to get a break within the business and was on pleasant phrases. Neeraj was final seen visiting Maria’s condo. Police discovered that Lieutenant Emile Jerome Mathew, Maria’s boyfriend, murdered him as he couldn’t bear their closeness.

This real-life story apparently impressed Bollywood director Ram Gopal verma to make Not a Love Story in 2011.

The crime thriller stars Deepak Dobriyal, Mahie Gill, Zakhir Hussain and Ajay Gehi in lead roles.

Charles Cullen was a nurse who labored in a number of hospitals and nursing properties. He would bounce from completely different medical centres to a different after being investigated over misconduct allegations. Over 16 years, he would kill sufferers utilizing his weapon of alternative – Digoxin. Cullen would additionally inject saline pouches with deadly doses of insulin. Cullen was arrested in December 2003 by way of the efforts of Amy Loughren, a nurse that he befriended. He confessed to between 30 and 40 killings, however the precise quantity is believed to be nearer to 400, making him probably the most prolific serial killer in US historical past.

The Good Nurse is predicated on Charles Graeber’s 2013 novel of the identical title. The Netflix movie revolves round Loughren and Cullen’s budding friendship after he was employed to assist her throughout shifts. Loughren cooperated with a police investigation after a number of mysterious deaths, and Cullen’s previous got here to gentle. Their friendship was instrumental in his confession of his murders.

On Could 1, 2010, Shannan Gilbert made three frantic 911 calls from a gated group and disappeared into the night time. Initially discovering 4 our bodies, police investigation uncovered over a dozen murdered ladies, none of them was Gilbert’s. It might later be often called one of many fashionable period’s most infamous unsolved instances. With the killings taking centre stage, the mom’s relentless search and discovery of the physique took virtually a yr.

The Netflix movie follows Mari Gilbert, her determined seek for her lacking daughter, and the invention of the Lengthy Island serial killer. This Liz Garbus-directed story is predicated on precise occasions taken from “Misplaced Women: An Unsolved American Thriller” by Robert Kolker.

Between 1989 and 1990, Aileen Wuornos killed and robbed seven of her male shoppers. She was often called one in every of America’s first feminine serial killers. Throughout her trial, Wuornos claimed that she killed the boys in self-defence. She was convicted and ultimately executed by deadly injection in 2002.

The critically acclaimed movie, directed by Patty Jenkins, focuses on the 9 months between 1989 and 1990, detailing the occasions of her seven murders. It stars Charlize Theron as Wuornos and Christina Ricci as her semi-fictionalized lover.

On April 30, 1999, Indian mannequin Jessica Lal was shot and killed after she refused to serve Manu Sharma, a politician’s son, at a celebration in New Delhi. Sharma was arrested and tried for homicide. In February 2006, he and his accomplices had been acquitted. However inside months, public outcry led to his conviction, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2020, Sharma was launched from jail after serving 17 years.

The Hindi-language crime thriller No One Killed Jessica Lal revolves across the surprising demise of mannequin after being shot by a politician’s son at an occasion.

Director Raj Kumar Gupta was impressed to adapt the case after he noticed a headline in 2006. The movie follows her sister’s lengthy wrestle to seek out justice and her marketing campaign to deliver Jessica’s killers to jail. It stars Vidya Balan as Sabrina Lal and Rani Mukerji as Meera Gaity.

Pablo “the king of cocaine” Escobar was a Colombian drug lord who based the Medellín Cartel in 1976. After establishing smuggling routes from Columbia to the US – with an estimated $ 30 billion web price earlier than his demise – he grew to become the wealthiest felony in historical past. After a decades-long battle with rivals and authorities, he was killed in his hometown by the police in 1993.

Narcos is against the law drama sequence impressed by Escobar’s vibrant life and demise. Whereas season 1 and a couple of focuses on Escobar’s life and his interactions with drug lords, US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and different entities, Season 3 choose up after his fall with the DEA towards the Cali Cartel. The sequence was primarily written by Chris Brancato and directed by Brazilian filmmaker José Padilha.

The dad and mom of Sylvia Likens and Jenny had been carnival staff, and whereas they had been going to work, they left their kids within the care of Indiana housewife Gertrude Baniszewski. The dad and mom supplied to pay Baniszewski $20 per week for the care of their daughters after believing within the assurance of Baniszewski that the sisters can be handled as their very own kids.

In line with the case, Baniszewski tortured Sylvia Likens to demise with the assistance of her personal and neighbourhood kids.

Sylvia was crushed, humiliated, and ultimately left to die from neglect and extreme abuse in a matter of months.

Each films ‘The Woman Subsequent Door and An American Crime ‘ are primarily based on the subject of this case. Whereas An American Crime talks concerning the information of the case, Jack Ketchum’s The Woman Subsequent Door is a dramatised account of the occasion.

The case includes the notorious Zodiac, a serial killer, who used to ship coded messages to newspapers concerning murders. The San Francisco Examiner newspaper obtained a letter from the Zodiac in 1969 containing the coded message. Within the late Sixties and early Nineteen Seventies, Zodiac terrorized Northern California with a mix of grisly murders. The killer additionally despatched weird public letters indicating threats, insane calls for, and so forth.

His fundamental targets had been younger {couples} and a male cab driver. Zodiac has murdered round 37 individuals.

The case impressed the 1971 motion movie Soiled Harry, which starred Clint Eastwood, and it was additionally the topic of David Fincher’s dramatic movie Zodiac (2007).