Monkey Man is a hard edged action movie that contains mythological symbolism, class conflict, and the story of a mother and son! The son is played by Jatin Malik and this is first film. Dev Patel is directing his first film and also provides the story and co-screenplay credit. Patel's last film was Green Knight (2021). His co-screenwriters are John Collee, who wrote the dramatic true story, Hotel Mumbai (2018), that starred Patel and Paul Angunwela, director and screenwiter of the comedy, Keith Lemon: The Film (2012). The film is violent and has adult content that should be a warning for audiences. It begins with a mother, Neela (Adithi Kalkunte), telling her son (Jatin Malik) the story of Hanuman, monkey god of devotion. Kalkunte also starred in Hotel Mumbai.
The Demon King and his army had power over people until he faced Hanuman. We get closeups of the mother while we also see book illustrations of Hanuman. The cinematography, Sharone Meir, also filmed the action movie, Silent Night (2023). He asks his mother, “Then what happened?”, and this shifts to a crowd at a fighting ring. We see now a man in a monkey mask. He is not given a name like the mysterious Western gunfighter and credited as Kid. It is a brutal, bare knuckles fight and a man in a suit, the ring announcer, Tiger (Sharlto Copley) steps into the ring. The fights have a savage quality that is still readable, no shaky cam. The man is thrown out of the ring and into a table by his opponent, King Cobra, defeated. He walks down a hallway, then to a sink where he removes his mask, and spits blood. This Patel playing Kid.
He flashes back to his village on fire. Tiger says that the crowd hates him. This is in the fictional city of Yatana. On television, the is the report on the religious leader, Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande), who has laid off half of farmers for his own building. Deshpande was in the Hindi action movie, Bholaa (2023). Also by his side is police chief, Rana Singh (Sikande Kher), and a woman named Queenie Kapoor (Ashwini Kaskar). Kher was in the Hindi thriller, Monica, O My Darling (2022). Kashkar stars in the Hindi thriller released this year, Merry Christmas. Later on the streets, a blind man in a wheelchair is trying to sell figures of the gods. He rams his wheelchair into the table of Queenie. As the table is settled, the man takes the purse of Queenie, and rolls away. He passes the person from person to person in the streets until it reaches the Kid. This does feel like a sequence from Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and there are thematic story points that are also similar.
He passes the person from person to person in the streets until it reaches the Kid. The Kid watches a building, the restaurant called Kings, and is taken to the kitchen. He enters the office of Queenie, the manager, and says he found the purse in a fight. The Kid insists he needs a job and will do any work. Queenie asks to see his hand, and his hands are scarred, The Kid says they were burned in bleach. He looks and sees the photo of Rana Singh and also photos of women. The Kid is given a job and we see him at night sleeping on a floor with workers. He dreams of his mother saying a prayer to Hanuman which h repeats as a kid. The next day, he is washing dishes when he is questioned by Queenie’s right hand man, Alphonso (Pitobash). The thriller Parchand (2023) starred Pitobash. Alphonso is looked down by the other workers for his bad leg, but he has a goofy confidence.
The Kid is asked his name by Alphonso and replies that it is Bobby. Alphonso walks away and passes a can of Bobby’s Bleach. Bobby (using his pseudonym as his high society identity) goes to talk to a young boy about a Raju Special. He is taken by the boy to an armorer who has a wall of guns. The armorer asks him, “You like John Wick?” A great shout out to an inspiration. He gets a pistol from the armorer. Back at the King’s kitchen, Bobby notices that Queenie is slapping a beautiful woman, Sita (Sobhita Dhulipala). The biographical drama, Major (2022), starred Dhulipala. This angers Bobby who balls his fist, but he goes to talk with Alphonso and gives him the address of his fight club. Bobby tells Alphonso to bet against the challenger in the third round. He says he will be fighting and says that this will be to get a promotion.
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