Slumdog Millionarie’s Deve Patal, with his directorial debut, brings out a revenging narrative of poverty, wealth, power, and corruption by relying on a Hindu legend of the semi-divine being, a monkey-like form named “Hanuman.” In a vengeance story, the power of brilliant editing allows the audience to comprehend and deliberate an under-discussed issue in Indian society: authority corruption and their victims.
“Mister Monkey,” the symbol of our protagonist’s resilience and determination against the tyranny of the system, is none other than Deve Petal, who wears not just the director’s hat but also the actor’s. He embodies the spirit of an ordinary man wearing a monkey mask, challenging a flawed system and boldly addressing the issue of police brutality in the contemporary Indian context. Viewers experience the protagonist’s journey from innocence to insight, from despair to defiance, and finally to destiny. This evolution entails a mission to seek justice against the big bad wolf in the story, the corrupt police officer, represented by “Sikandar Kher.” Richard Attenborough once said, “Film is a reflection of society, both present and past.” In Monkey Man, Deve Petal tears down pretence and brings into the limelight the social pestilence of police corruption and harassment. The graphic representation of such a dark reality augments the reality and urgency of these issues in the viewer’s eye.
Kid, who resides with his mother Neela in an Indian forest village, finds inspiration in the anecdotes of Hanuman that she imparts to him. Baba Shakti, a ruthless spiritual guru residing in the adjacent city of Yatana, dispatches the corrupt police superintendent, Rana Singh, with the mission of expelling the villagers and claiming their property. Despite the village’s carnage, Neela manages to conceal Kid before Rana burns her corpse to death. Kid’s abject efforts to rescue her result in severe burns and scarring to his hands. Years later, Kid supports himself in Yatana, a clandestine boxing club known as Tiger’s Temple, where he dons a monkey disguise.
Imagery is a key device, with symbols carrying significant meanings. The film’s opening scenes, with extreme close-ups, take us to the heart of a symbolic tale—the story of a monkey man who swallows the sun and provokes God’s fury to punish him in the heart of fire. Fire is also a transformative element that purifies filth. As our protagonist chooses his name out of the alias “Bobby,” a cleaning product from the kitchen he is working for, we know that he is there to eliminate the pollution. He plans to exact revenge on “Baba,” whose brutality has remained hidden for years due to the corrupt system. For people like Baba, the idea of “otherness” works, as we hear from Bobby: “The rich don’t see us as people; to them, we’re animals.”
Monkey Man was strikingly captivating with its momentous cinematography and editing. The film conflicting between the good and the devil takes up a massive part of the film, and without the power of its cinematic language, it could have turned into an Indian stereotypical film that seeks public excitement. The influence of Fernando Mirelles and Katia Lund’s City of God is evident in certain scenes. Monkey Man masterfully achieves the run, the restlessness, the fear, and the salvation through the power of lenses and montage, two of the most important words in the cinema dictionary. Petal’s directing style is distinctive, with intricate close-ups highlighting the raw emotions of the characters and sweeping overhead shots reinforcing the vast inequality faced by the protagonist. He also proves that he has a brilliant future in directing.
On March 11th, 2024, Monkey Man made its global debut at South by Southwest. On April 2nd, 2024, Patel and his partner, Australian actress Tilda Cobham-Hervey, attended the Sydney premiere, and on April 4th, Australian cinemas distributed the film. Universal Pictures distributed the picture in the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland on April 5th, 2024.
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