Actor Dev Patel, who became a household name with his portrayal of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, is now looking forward to his directorial debut, Monkey Man. The actor stars alongside Sharlto Copley, Sobhita Dhulipala, Sikandar Kher, and more, in the action-thriller. He not only directed the movie but has co-written the script with Paul Angunawela and John Collee.
Monkey Man premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2024, and opened to a positive response from the critics and the audience. The ones who managed to watch the movie have praised the actor’s hard work and dedication toward the project. But like it is said, success does not come easy, and working on the movie had its own challenges for the actors and the crew. He recently shared how he decided to write the script for the movie himself.
Dev Patel describes Monkey Man as an ‘underdog action film’
Upon his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, actor Dev Patel expressed his deepest gratitude towards his fans as he explained that Monkey Man premiered at the South by Southwest. He added that he was so touched to see fans queued up to three blocks long waiting for his movie. He also revealed that Monkey Man won the Audience Award at the South by Southwest.
Jimmy Fallon asked him if it was true that the movie was based on a story that he had heard when he was a kid. To which he said that he has been working on it for over ten years of his life. He continued,
“I turned down some of the best work that I’ve been waiting for my whole career to birth this little gremlin of a film. My dad wears this chain around his neck with this monkey holding this one mountain in his hand. And I used to ask him, I was like, ‘Dad, what’s that about?’”
Patel continued to explain about Hanuman, the god in Indian mythology who represents nobility, strength, and courage; very similar to Superman. The actor noted that for him, Hanuman was also a hero who lost faith in himself and needed to be reminded of who he was, so that was kind of what the movie’s story is based on.
The actor describes Monkey Man as an ‘underdog action film’, adding that he is very fond of the action genre, but he was only offered the funny sidekick or the guy that hacks the mainframe for the lead actor. Dev Patel shared with Jimmy Fallon,
“I was, ‘I got to write this thing myself’.”
The host complimented the actor by stating that he had crushed the role and that he seemed great in the action sequences.
Dev Patel admits Monkey Man was the most demanding thing he’s ever done
Ahead of the release of the movie, the actor shared with fans during a Reddit AMA that directing, acting, writing, and producing the movie had been the most demanding thing he had ever done in his life. He wrote,
“I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before the principal photographer. We were meant to shoot in India, then COVID hit. I lost my initial production designer and cinematographer, 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.”
The actor shared that, because of the situation at the time, he couldn’t bring in extras to support them in the movie, so he decided to put everyone working on the movie in front of the camera. Patel continued to share the challenges the crew faced while filming and noted that when their equipment broke down at the time, they shot on his mobile phone, and used Go Pros. He revealed that when the crane broke, the crew ended up creating a camera rig from the rope, which he termed a ‘pendulum cam’.
He lastly added that, in a very long nutshell, every obstacle they faced while filming the movie provided them with a new opportunity to innovate. The movie centers around Kid, who sets out on a journey to hunt down a group of corrupt leaders responsible for the death of his mother. To his surprise, he becomes the savior of the poor and powerless people who were tormented by corrupt leaders.
Monkey Man is scheduled for release on April 5, 2024.
