Dev Patel’s Monkey Man isn’t here in India. It may not even see the light of day. But it is already the object of much interest, internet chatter, and even memes.
There’s an ample amount of speculation over the movie, but in India –– there’s no release date in sight. What we have instead is a detailed but ultimately hollow analysis of a 3-minute-long trailer and Patel’s promotional interviews. There are jokes on how it’s the missing piece from the Congress’ manifesto, how Indians only recognise one monkey man, Kala bandar of 2001, and also genuine expressions of shock at how the movie is probably not going to be released, since there’s no green light in sight.
When Hanuman is the new avenger-superman in Narendra Modi’s India, politics is bound to follow.
Perhaps the release of a Hollywood blockbuster, produced by an American company, with a British-Indian actor at the helm, is going to win the opposition seats. Or if not, at least validation from the ‘youth’.
Monkey Man, as it appears from the trailer, is an action film. Patel describes it as “a low-budget horror film.” Playing an avatar of Hanuman, Patel is avenging the death of his mother, who was killed by a Hindutva mob. Judging from the premise itself, it’s not a film that is going to be taken too kindly in the country in which it is based.
A shot in the trailer shows Patel’s first fight, which takes place in a prison-like fighting cage. There are aggressive jeers, and red banners, which were originally saffron.
Somewhere along the film’s promotional campaign, the saffron flags and political banners used to represent a reprehensible but unnamed political party, were edited out –– as was pointed out by social media users. According to an article in Time magazine, distributors refused to comment on the change.
Even in the US, it’s been a rocky road to release. Netflix, after acquiring the rights to the film in 2021 for $ 30 million, simply handed it over to director Jordan Peele’s MonkeyPaw Productions. Sources told WorldofReel that they were concerned about the backlash, and the possibility of the film affecting its future in the lucrative Indian market.
“It was the portrayal of a fictional right-wing Hindu Nationalist character in the film that worried Netflix about their future dealings in India,” says the article. There’s a face at the end of Patel’s quest for revenge –– Baba Shakti –– which many are saying resembles a Yogi Adityanath-like figure.
The film is apparently rich in Hinduism and Hindutva. Patel’s character is fed on a diet of Hanuman’s adventures and Hindu mythology, tales of heroism and triumph. Since it’s a full-blown action thriller, this is woven into his vigilantism arc. This doesn’t bode well for some reviewers. None of which, of course, are writing from an Indian perspective.
“The use of Hindu imagery as a call to violence, reminiscent of the Hindutva project, is central to Kid’s mission, resulting in narrative dissonance. They represent Hindutva only in the abstract, echoing its power structures without its ideology. Kid, meanwhile, perhaps inadvertently, embodies it in both belief and action,” reads a review in Time.
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Monkey Man’s Sita
In India, any discussion on Monkey Man is peripheral. Not only is the film on the periphery of pop culture conversations (which would be justifiable), but it’s also peripheral in the sense that we’re literally lurking on the sidelines. There’s zero concrete material to go by.
Therefore, Sobhita Dhulipala, a common fixture on Indian OTT screens, had to give an interview to The New York Times. Only then did a significant portion of film-watchers (those who do not reside permanently on the internet), realise that she was in the film. She’s there for a couple of seconds in the trailer, looking beautiful in a noir way, but disappears as quickly as she arrives.
“A Niche Indian Actress Is Thrust Into Hollywood’s Spotlight” is the loud, bordering on obnoxious headline. Dhulipala isn’t exactly an obscure actor inching her way to success. She’s not Deepika Padukone, but she’s been around for years and has many hits to her name.
Typically, when an Indian actor makes it into Hollywood, there are tears of joy at the attainment of cultural capital. Anil Kapoor was in Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol (2011) for what seemed to be a total of four seconds, but the Indian media treated it like he had replaced Tom Cruise. Amitabh Bachchan in The Great Gatsby (2013) was also similarly lauded.
Dhulipala, perhaps because the film itself is being spoken about in whispers, has barely made a splash. “In India, I’m South Indian. When I come to America, I’m Indian,” she told The New York Times. She’s not a native Hindi speaker, by virtue of which she isn’t Bollywood’s standard fare.
It’s a detailed interview. But—the article says, her character wouldn’t even pass “a generous version of the Bechdel test.” Inspired by Sita, she plays an “anti-establishment sex-worker” who needs rescuing by Kid, played by Patel. Dhulipala apparently has very few lines of dialogue. It may not be deliberate, but the movie plot appears a bit tone deaf. The choice of the name Sita can grate some groups in India. Even in the movie Fire (1996) by Deepa Mehta, Shabana Azmi played Sita and was the subject of Hindu outrage.
The Slumdog Millionaire (2008) actor has made some bold assertions in favour of his film. “This is an anthem for the underdog, the voiceless, the marginalised,” he said in an interview.
Maybe not.
Views are personal.