Dev Patel’s Monkey Man revels in fiery, bone-splitting fisticuffs within the twisting, dimly lit squalor of India’s urbanity. Yet, amidst all the close-quarters chaos, Monkey Man is an experience that wears its heated and frayed politics on its sleeve. Patel’s feature debut takes aim at the right-wing religious nationalism at the heart of modern India, finding direct parallels with the country’s corrupt ruling class in its chief antagonists.
From its first frame to its last, India’s sheer religious and cultural diversity is embedded into Monkey Man’s “Dupatta.” This makes it even more tragic and ironic that it will likely never be released in the nation where it takes place. In drawing such staunch political lines in Monkey Man, Patel injects a powerful thematic wrinkle into his action concept. He takes India’s growing chauvinistic and religious fervor to task. But, in the process, Monkey Man politics also echo the same jingoistic symbolism it attempts to critique.
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The eponymous, underground wrestling persona adopted by Patel’s nameless, impoverished, and ape-mask-donning protagonist bears a direct link to Hanuman— an apelike Hindu deity who is a key figure in the epic of Ramayana, from which Monkey Man draws heavy influence. The legend plays a key role in flashbacks to his forest-dwelling childhood, where his mother (Adithi Kalkunte) would regale him with tales of Hanuman’s exploits. The memories and lessons that underpin a quest for vengeance decades later.
His principal targets are corrupt commissioner Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher), a lackey for revered religious and political figure Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande). He’s a man who is the living and debauched embodiment of his namesake, which quite literally translates to “power.”
The two are responsible for displacing many religious minorities, tribal communities, and oppressed castes from their villages—including the one Patel’s hero called home—proclaiming them to be holy lands. These moments painfully tap into India’s long and ongoing history of sectarian violence, rife with violent, often state-sanctioned incursions that serve to further immiserate people already on the fringes of society.
Recent events, like the opening of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir—built on the ruins of a razed historic mosque—loom heavily over each of the film’s blood-soaked battles. Such political commentary fuels Monkey Man’s roaring fire. Each punch or stab lands a blow on the beliefs of a nation quickly inching away from secular democracy to a populist Hindu state.
The antagonists weaved into Monkey Man’s frayed political tapestry are not without their real-life counterparts. The fanatical Shakti reads as a direct metaphor for Narendra Modi’s nationalistic Hindutva government. His megaphoned religious sermonizing directly recalls that of UP Chief Minister and Hindu extremist Yogi Adityanath.
Shakti’s political iconography also bears a striking resemblance to that of Modi’s ruling BJP party. Patel and company go straight for the throat with such political metaphors, imbuing the experience with a blistering relevance that lends each bout of ultraviolence newfound impact.
Yet, in its dismantling of Hindu superiority, Monkey Man also employs the very language and imagery it is predicated upon. Patel’s lowly hero is cheered on with the same slogans nationalist mobs bellow while they rampage and lynch Muslim and minority communities. In a key moment, a spectator chants “Jai Bajrang Bali,” directly echoing those jingoistic sentiments as our hero triumphs.
While these moments can read as Patel attempting to reclaim Hindu symbolism from extremist hands, it often feels like Monkey Man is wielding the very blade it’s attempting to blunt. When such sequences are set against footage of actual demonstrations against the ruling Modi government, it robs them of their socio-political meaning and urgency. While Monkey Man feels earnest in its critique of Hindu authoritarianism, it falls prey to the same religious fervor it seeks to lampoon.
In a political climate that is seeing increased censorship and a national cinema that is too often self-aggrandizing, Monkey Man’s critique of Indian sectarianism is a breath of fresh air. Even though it will likely never see a release in the nation, it holds dear.
The film’s original buyer, Netflix, also sold the film’s distribution rights to Universal, fearing the film would alienate its significant audience base in India. Yet, like its lowly hero, Monkey Man lives to grace the silver screen, giving audiences much to chew on. While its commentary isn’t as scathing or as cogent as it aims to be— especially when met with a Western gaze— it’s a testament to the subversive power of genre filmmaking.
Monkey Man movie is now available on Peacock.
