Monkey Man: How Lord Hanuman and Dev Patel took Hollywood by storm |

Dev Patel and his directorial debut, The Monkey Man, took Hollywood by storm. This intense action story of a young man seeking revenge for his mother’s death is a visually extravagant and emotional experience, say those who saw the film at SXSW on Monday night. (Also read – First review of Monkey Man: Dev Patel movie debuts with impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%)

Inspiration from Hanuman

But more than making his long-awaited and spectacular directorial debut, the 33-year-old Slumdog Millionaire star has successfully taken Indian mythology and mainstreamed it into Hollywood cinema. This is a feat that no one has ever achieved.

Set in Mumbai, Monkey Man is inspired by Lord Hanuman. Dev revealed that when he was a child, his grandfather used to teach him the stories of Ramayana and Lord Hanuman. After the screening on Monday, Dev explained to the audience why he took inspiration from Lord Hanuman. Hanuman is the god who symbolizes devotion, loyalty, courage, strength, humility, and discipline. And Kid, the character Dev plays in the film, embodies these qualities as well.

“Hanuman really fascinated me. He was kind of an icon for my father and a lot of my family. If you go to a gym in India, you’ll see Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, Hanuman. What puzzled me growing up was this iconography of this super-powerful being who could hold mountains in one hand and rip open their chests. It reminded me of the iconography of Superman. I was like, “This is amazing.” I wish the whole world knew about it. If you dig deeper, he’s like a guy who lost faith in himself and had to remember who he was.” , said the Lion actor, who hails from a Gujarati Hindu family.

However, Monkey Man delves deeper into India’s caste system, socio-political issues, and the exploitation inherent in Indian society, among others. Dev goes on to say, “I really wanted to touch on the Indian caste system, where the poor are at the bottom and are made to work as slaves in the kitchen, and then they go to the king’s kingdom and there is a god above them. The idea is that there are humans,” he added. Created a god that pollutes and corrupts religion, then you can get heaven. ”

Take Hanuman to the World

Writing the screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Colley, The Last Airbender star brought Indian mythology to the world and weaved a story that they could relate to and understand. He combined his two greatest passions: a love of action movies and a love of the stories told by his grandfather, creating a world on screen that captivated the imaginations of Western audiences. While director SS Rajamouli released RRR, a Telugu film set in India to a global audience, his debut is a Hollywood film set in India and inspired by Indian mythology. By creating this action drama, we pushed the boundaries even further. Global appeal.

There are many Indian films inspired by the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and Indian filmmakers continue to utilize these epics in their stories. However, this is the first time that the West has been exposed to mainstream Hollywood films that have their roots in these epics and are set in Indian settings. What Dev has done is successfully combine elements of Indian cinema (mother’s emotions, Mumbai milieu, revenge stories, caste, etc.) with the Hollywood action genre, perhaps creating a new film genre that will captivate the audience.

The Monkey Man is scheduled to be released worldwide on April 5, 2024, and after the amazing response it received at SXSW, Dev Patel and his film are expected to be released in India and possibly more in the West. It could encourage filmmakers to use Indian mythology in mainstream films. .

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