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Dev Patel and his directorial debut, Monkey Man, have taken Hollywood by storm! This intense action story of a young man, who seeks revenge for his mother’s death, is a visual extravaganza and an emotional experience, say those who watched the film at SXSW on Monday night.
Inspiration from Hanuman
However, more than making a much-deserved spectacular directorial debut, what the 33-year-old Slumdog Millionaire star has managed to do is take Indian mythology and make it mainstream Hollywood cinema. This is a feat that no one else has achieved.
Set in Mumbai, Monkey Man is inspired by Lord Hanuman. Dev revealed he was introduced to the Ramayana and Lord Hanuman’s stories by his grandfather, who used to narrate them to him when he was a child. After the screening on Monday, Dev explained to the audience on why he found inspiration from Lord Hanuman. Hanuman is a god who is symbolised by devotion, loyalty, valour, strength, humility and discipline. And the character that Dev plays in the film – Kid – embodies these qualities as well.
“Hanuman really captivated me. He has been sort of an emblem for my father and many in my family. If you go to any gym in India, there’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman and Hanuman. What baffled me growing up was this iconography of this super-strong being who could hold mountains in one hand and split his chest open. It reminded me of the iconography of Superman. I was like, this is amazing, I wish the world knew about it. When you go deep into it, he is sort of a guy who has lost faith in himself and had to be reminded of who he was,” said the Lion actor, who hails from a Gujarati Hindu family.
But Monkey Man delves much deeper, especially into the caste system in India, socio-political issues, and the exploitation that is inherent in Indian society. Dev added, “I really wanted to touch on caste system in India, the idea where the poor are at the bottom, slaving away in these kitchens, then you go to the land of the kings and above them, you have God, a man-made god that is polluting and corrupting religion, and then you have heaven.”
Taking Hanuman to the world
Writing the screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee, The Last Airbender star has taken Indian mythology to the world, weaving a story which they can relate to and understand. He combined two of his biggest passions – love for action films and love for the stories narrated by his grandad – and created a world on screen that has captured the imagination of the Western audience. While director SS Rajamouli took a Telugu film, RRR, which included a slice of Indian history, to the global audience, Dev has pushed the envelope a significant step further by making a Hollywood action drama inspired by Indian mythology, set in India, but having global appeal.
There have been many Indian films inspired by the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and Indian filmmakers continue to tap into these epics for stories. However, this is the first time that the West has been exposed to a mainstream Hollywood film that has its roots in these epics and set in an Indian milieu. What Dev has done is successfully combine elements of Indian cinema (mother sentiment, Mumbai milieu, revenge story, caste, etc) with the Hollywood action genre, and possibly created a new genre of cinema that has takers.
Monkey Man is slated for release on April 5, 2024 worldwide and with the amazing response it has received at SXSW, Dev Patel and his film are likely to inspire more filmmakers in India, and possibly the West, to tap into Indian mythology for mainstream films.
