Actor and director Dev Patel shared insights into his upcoming film “Monkey Man” during a live session on Reddit on Thursday, March 28. Patel, promoting his directorial debut, confessed that he drew inspiration from Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan for the project.
Responding to questions from fans, Patel revealed that Shah Rukh Khan’s work influenced his writing and direction for “Monkey Man.” He also discussed his experience working with legendary figures from both Bollywood and Hollywood, citing Irrfan Khan’s influence on him, particularly in the film “Slumdog Millionaire.”
When asked by a user about his favourite Bollywood films and if he could list which have inspired his writing and direction for Monkey Man, Dev replied, “Anything Shah Rukh Khan does.”
In another question, when asked what was it like to work with legends in both Bollywood and Hollywood cinema, the actor wrote, “Watching them and acting opposite of them shaped me hugely. Especially Irrfan in Slumdog. He taught me about the importance of stillness.”
“Monkey Man,” in which Patel also stars, features a star-studded cast including Sobhita Dhulipala, Sikandar Kher, Sharlto Copley, and others. The film follows the journey of a man seeking vengeance against corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to oppress the poor.
Watch trailer here:
Inspired by the legend of the Hindu deity Hanuman, “Monkey Man” is set to be released by Universal Pictures on April 5.
The actor-filmmaker said the team faced “absolute catastrophe” almost every day.
“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.
Dev Patel revealed that the concept of “Monkey Man” had been simmering within him for more than ten years, drawing inspiration from various sources. He attributed part of the inspiration to his childhood fascination with Bruce Lee’s movies.
“Since when my grandfather talked to me about Hanuman and the story about Ramayana. The first image I had was a young man wearing a cheap gorilla mask in an underground wrestling ring,” he added.