A breath of fresh air for Indian action films, Dev Patel’s Monkey Man is both exhilarating and frustrating. The film is devoid of tropes that plague Indian cinema, but it is also subject to the pitfalls suffered by first-time directors and writers.
There are no forced love interests, no gravity-defying action, no love songs every 30 minutes and no happy ending where the Indian hero walks off into a dalcha-coloured sunset.
Going by several monikers with his real name lost to the tragedy in his childhood, Kid (Dev) spends his nights fighting in an animal-themed underground fight club. Inspired by the Hindu deity Hanuman, Kid wears a monkey mask in the ring. During the day, he spends his time tracking down corrupt police chief Rana (Sikandar Kher).
At the time that Monkey Man’s story begins, he has found a way to get closer to Rana by infiltrating Kings Club, an exclusive establishment that is the convergence point of businessmen, politicians and the police in the city of Yatana.
Focused entirely on his mission, Kid is single-minded in the attempt to avenge his dead mother.
