Highlights
- Dev Patel faced multiple injuries while starring in Monkey Man, but the positive early reviews make it all worthwhile.
- Patel’s directorial debut was the most demanding challenge of his career, showcasing his resilience and innovation.
- Relocating the shoot to Indonesia and improvising with limited resources added to the challenges of making Monkey Man.
The cost of starring in Monkey Man for Dev Patel involved multiple injuries to his body. Thankfully for the British actor, who also scripted and directed the action thriller film, the very earliest reviews will have him feeling that it was all worth it.
Patel gained international fame for his role as Jamal Malik in the 2008 drama film Slumdog Millionaire, which was directed by Danny Boyle and won eight Academy Awards. In those early days of his career, he also starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, although he would later refer to the film as the “worst movie he’s ever done.”
Some of Patel’s more recent works include The Green Knight, his acclaimed fantasy adventure film of 2021. He is also now delving into behind-the-scenes roles, as demonstrated with his no-holds-barred work in Monkey Man.
Dev Patel Received Positive Reviews For Monkey Man, But The Process Wasn’t Easy
Dev Patel’s journey through the filming of Monkey Man was marked by a serious toll on his body. These incidents were documented in a feature on The Hollywood Reporter, which focused on Patel’s directorial debut.
The trouble started two weeks before filming began, when the actor broke his toes. Later, during a fight sequence, he tore his shoulder, and an eye infection followed after a scene which required him to crawl on a bathroom floor. Patel also recounted the particularly challenging moment on the second day of filming when he broke his hand.
Monkey Man premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2024, with a United States release by Universal Pictures scheduled for April 5, 2024. The film immediately captivated critics, and consequently rocketed to a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus for the movie on the site described it as “an audacious effort from debuting director Dev Patel.”
Filming Monkey Man Was “The Most Demanding Challenge” Of Dev Patel’s Career
Dev Patel hosted an AMA session on Reddit ahead of Monkey Man‘s theatrical release, where he revealed that the process had been the most daunting challenge of his career yet. During the session, a fan queried about the stress levels involved in directing, writing, and acting in the film, and whether having more control over the project eased the stress.
Early Critical Feedback On Dev Patel’s Monkey Man
- “Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man is a gritty, nasty piece of work.” – Jenny Nulf, Austin Chronicle
- “Patel’s blend of folklore and socio-political critique into an engaging action-packed experience showcases a side of Indian cinema (outside of the Hollywood machine) that often goes underappreciated internationally.” – Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily
- “Patel has a great visual style that feels like he’s approaching his direction as a fan who understands the language of cinema, and particularly action. Turns out, he’s also a badass action star with an undeniable charm, which is a magic combination.” – Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots
Patel’s response was illuminating and raw. “WE KNOW THIS GUYS! It was the most demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life. Everyday we faced absolute catastrophe,” he admitted, before elaborating on the numerous obstacles that threatened the film’s production, from the outset and through its completion.
“I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before principal photography – We were meant to shoot in India then covid hit – I lost my initial production designer and DOP and the film was basically dead,” Patel recounted.
In response to COVID derailing their original plans, Patel and his team made a bold decision to relocate the shoot to a tiny island in Indonesia. This move allowed them to create a safe production bubble for the nearly 500 people involved.
Dev Patel Also Struggled To Fill Out The Cast Of Monkey Man
The obstacles didn’t end with the relocation, however, as Dev Patel described the day-to-day challenges that continued to test him and his team.
“All of the locations we prepped for months at – we lost [on the] day of – so we had to adapt last minute – the borders closed also I couldn’t bring in lots of supporting characters so I ended up having to put every tailor, lighting guy, accountant etc in front of the camera,” he shared.
The improvisation extended to their filming equipment, too, with Patel revealing, “Most of our equipment broke and we couldn’t fly in new stuff so we literally shot stuff on my mobile phone, go pros… [And] when a crane broke we ended [up] creating this camera rig from rope.”
Even more striking was the scarcity of resources that Patel also had to cope with in production. “I asked the set designer and they said they literally didn’t have any money in the account to buy the glass [we needed for a scene],” he wrote. The newly-minted director finished on a bullish note, saying, “In a very long nutshell every obstacle provided us with a new opportunity to innovate. BOOM!”
Source: NewsFinale
