Indian-origin Hollywood actor
Dev Patel
is busy promoting his upcoming film, ‘
Monkey Man
‘. Ahead of its release, the actor recently engaged in an interactive session with his fans and answered a few interesting questions.
When asked about his favorite Bollywood films and those that inspired his writing and direction for Monkey Man, Dev replied, “Anything Shah Rukh Khan does.”
When asked about working with legends from Bollywood and Hollywood cinema, the actor expressed, “Watching them and acting opposite them shaped me immensely.
Especially Irrfan in Slumdog. He taught me about the importance of stillness.”
Farah Khan recalls ‘sobbing’ in front of Shah Rukh Khan for over an hour: ‘I received a call from the doctor…’
In ‘Monkey Man,’ Dev Patel portrays Kid, seeking vengeance against corrupt leaders who killed his mother. Patel described the process as the “most demanding thing” he’s ever undertaken. He highlighted facing “absolute catastrophe” nearly every day during filming.
“I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before principle photography – We were meant to shoot in India then covid hit – I lost, my initial production designer and DOP and the film was basically dead – then we pivoted and went to a tiny island in Indonesia where we could create a bubble in an empty hotel for the whole crew of nearly 500 people… It was a grueling nine months of absolute joy and utter chaos. All of the locations we prepped for months at – we lost day of – so we had to adapt last minute – the borders closed also I couldn’t bring in lots of supporting characters so I ended up having to put every tailor, lighting guy, accountant etc in front of the camera,” he wrote.
The actor remembered how their equipment frequently malfunctioned, and as they couldn’t bring in replacements, they resorted to filming on mobile phones and GoPros. With limited breakaway tables, after performing stunts, they would hurriedly gather broken wood pieces to repair them for the next shot. Each obstacle presented a chance to innovate, leading to creative solutions.
Dev Patel revealed that the concept of ‘Monkey Man’ had been brewing within him for over a decade, influenced by childhood memories of watching
Bruce Lee
and hearing stories from his grandfather about Hanuman and the Ramayana. The initial image that sparked the idea was of a young man donning a gorilla mask in an underground wrestling ring.
According to the film’s official synopsis, ‘Monkey Man’ depicts the story of an unnamed young man, Dev, who toils at an underground fight club. Each night, he dons a gorilla mask and endures brutal beatings from better-known fighters, all for monetary gain.
After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.