Monkey Man: Dev Patel's new film owes debt to Amitabh Bachchan, not Keanu Reeves

Dev Patel, who also directed and co-wrote the script, plays an anonymous young man who seeks to “protect the weak” and avenge his mother’s murder by corrupt and powerful figures. (Source: Bloomberg/Getty Images)

I can’t remember the last time that the trailer of a movie — one that doesn’t involve dinosaurs, Marvel heroes, or events in a galaxy far, far away — attracted as much attention and comment as Monkey Man, the forthcoming Dev Patel vehicle. The film was originally planned for streaming on Netflix but,  according to the Hollywood Reporter, producer Jordan Peele was so impressed by a screening that he decided it deserved a wide theatrical release. Universal Pictures quickly agreed to market and distribute it. It will be in US theaters on April 5.

Watch the trailer and you can see why Peele was so taken by the film: Patel, who also directed and co-wrote the script, plays an anonymous young man who seeks to “protect the weak” and avenge his mother’s murder by corrupt and powerful figures. The title is derived from his side hustle in an underground Mumbai fight club, where he dons a monkey mask in the ring.

It promises to be a high-adrenaline, all-action affair, a departure for Patel, a British actor best known for playing vulnerable characters in movies like Slumdog Millionaire and TV shows like Skins.

In the US, the trailer has drawn comparisons with the John Wick franchise, and Patel’s turn as a vengeful killer has been likened to Keanu Reeves’ eponymous lead in those films. But the similarities are limited to some slick, highly synchronized fight sequences.

To judge by the storyline and the clips we’ve seen so far, the more obvious inspiration for Monkey Man is to be found in its setting, Mumbai, and the movie industry based there. Just as Slumdog was a synthesis — albeit a superbly executed one — of well-worn Indian cinematic clichés, Patel’s new movie owes more to Bollywood than Hollywood.

His hero may be anonymous (the pre-release materials refer to him simply as “the Kid”) but anybody raised in India will instinctively know his name: Vijay. That name is associated with the character of a Bollywood staple, the “angry young man,” personified in the 1970s and 80s by the greatest of all Indian movie stars, Amitabh Bachchan.

Bachchan played characters called Vijay in over a score of movies, almost always as a hero wronged by fate (represented by bad guys, usually gangsters, crooked politicians or bent cops). He overcomes adversity by the force of will and the liberal use of his fists — with, in the best Bollywood tradition, occasional breaks for song-and-dance numbers.

Although Patel did shake an awkward leg in the end credits of Slumdog, there is, alas, nothing in the trailer to suggest there will be any musical interludes in Monkey Man. But all the other Bollywood/Bachchan tropes are there: the murdered parent, the young man obliged to do menial jobs, the burning desire to right societal as well as personal wrongs, the overcoming of insurmountable odds.

None of this precludes the film from succeeding in India, an increasingly lucrative market for Hollywood. Slumdog may not have been a hit with Indian audiences, but the advance buzz around Monkey Man has largely been positive. In addition to the Mumbai setting and the mostly Indian and Indian-origin cast, there is also some curiosity about the coy references to Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god.

So far, Patel has said little about his inspirations for Monkey Man. Closer to the release, he and Peele will probably be obliged to reckon with the John Wick comparisons. By rights, they should give Bachchan his due.

In the meantime, if you feel like delving into the source material, I encourage you to watch two Bachchan films: 1973’s Zanjeer and 1975’s Deewar. And when you do, note the name of his character.

Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Views do not represent the stand of this publication. 

Credit: Bloomberg