Monkey Man’s Lord Hanuman, Explained

Dev Patel is possibly one of the best actors to come out of India. His range is excellent, and his kindhearted disposition makes him very easy to love and root for, no matter what role he is in (yes, even his role in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender). He’s one of those actors that makes you wish he was in more films. He’s also one of those actors who, when they are in something, absolutely matters because you know they wholeheartedly believe in what they are doing. His latest venture, brought to you from Jordan Peele’s Monkey Paw Studios, is no exception. Not only that, it may also be Patel’s finest work yet.

Monkey Man is a new action film written and directed by Dev Patel, and it is his directorial debut. The movie has already been compared to John Wick and is a diverse blend of action, symbolism, and emotional storytelling. At its heart, it’s a tale about the struggles seen by the people of India in their home country, with Patel’s character serving as a hero for those on the bottom. It’s not just a stylish revenge film, though, as the actor tells a story straight from his culture with heavy inspiration from one of India’s highest deities, Hanuman. But just who exactly is this being?

What Is Dev Patel’s Monkey Man?

Read Our Review

Before going into the lore behind the film, it’s best to give a bit more information on it. Monkey Man follows an anonymous young man known simply as Kid. The film is set where the wealthy elite rule with impunity and enjoy every luxury there is to offer. Meanwhile, the lower class, where Kid resides, is forced to live in poverty under the worst conditions. Kid works as a fight fixer, taking bets for brutal fights and taking extra money to ensure the right person wins.

However, his world is turned upside down by his mother’s death at the hands of the corrupt leaders who have held him down, turning him down a vicious path for vengeance. His mission is a personal one, but it soon becomes personal for everyone else at the bottom as well, and they soon start to view him as a savior for the powerless.

Monkey Man debuted at SXSW to rave reviews and has been described as visually spectacular and an action-packed, emotional experience. The Slumdog Millionaire star has done something that no other director has been able to do by bringing one of the most beloved cultural figures in India to mainstream Hollywood. Many Indian films have been inspired by tales from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Still, none have been able to reach a global scale as this one has by combining elements of Indian cinema (mother sentiment, revenge, chaste, Mumbai milieu) with hard-hitting Hollywood action. Could this be the start of a new cultural wave in the film industry?

Who Is Hanuman, and How Does the Figure Connect to Monkey Man?

Hanuman is a key figure in Hindu mythology and one of India’s most celebrated and worshipped deities. Known as the divine monkey god, Hanuman is recognized as a symbol of strength, devotion, and loyalty and is prominently featured in the Indian epic, the Ramyana, where he worships the god known as Lord Rama. The son of the wind god, Vayu, Hanuman, has the red face of a monkey (the color is representative of his dedication to Rama) but with the body of a man. He also wears a gold crown on his head and has a long tale.

One of the key features of this god is the opening in his chest, which reveals the face of Rama, a figure recognized as the embodiment of dharma (which in Indian religion is the everlasting nature of reality or cosmic law that underlies just behavior and order), who embodies chivalry and virtue. Hanuman is also depicted in most iconography as holding a mace in one hand and an entire mountain in the other.

Hanuman is known for his physical abilities, such as incredible strength and flight, which would serve him well in his role in the Ramayana when he helps the seventh avatar of Visnu to save his wife from Ravana, the demon king. In this fight, Hanuman gathers a large army of Vanara (forest people) to aid them in battle. This story is the one he is most known for, although he has had other adventures in and outside the Ramayana. He is also mentioned in the Mahabharata and Puranas, which cover Hindu legends and lore. One of his more notable tales sees him jumping high into the sky to grab the sun, believing it to be a ripe fruit.

Hanuman has seen numerous successes in Hindu lore, but despite the glory he achieved, he is still widely regarded for his humility and selflessness, which has also aided his status as the hero of the people, an identity Kid takes on in Monkey Man as he carves a path through the Mumbai hierarchy. The film itself is inspired by the famous monkey god and his legend. From the trailer alone, Dev Patel as Kid embodies the qualities of Hanuman, who rises from the ground up and takes on any dirty job necessary to achieve his goal. But no matter the task, the people and the justice he intends to bring them are always on his mind.

Dev Patel Was Captivated by Hanuman in Monkey Man

Fans will find all of Lord Hanuman’s qualities (devotion, loyalty, valor, strength, humility, and discipline) in Kid. The Green Knight actor explained that he was captivated by the mythical figure as a child when told of his legend by his grandfather. In Hanuman, with his incredible strength and ability to rip his chest open, Patel saw Superman. Kid is very much the same in that he was someone without faith in himself before finding the warrior moviegoers can see in theaters.

Fans can see in the first trailer that the visual representation of Hanuman is everywhere. Kid even wears a monkey mask and white paint in the ring for a fight scene involving a barbed-wire-covered bat. The mask represents his evolution from the shadows into the full embodiment of the people’s hero, as alluded to by its changing appearance throughout, going from dirty brown to white.

Monkey Man could be the start of a new franchise based on Indian mythology and lore if it does well enough. The Ramayana is big, and there is plenty to take inspiration from. As stated before, this film is the first of its kind, giving audiences a unique look into a world they’ve never seen, one within our reality, but with a sense of justice that Western audiences love. No matter where this journey takes us, it must be taken. Monkey Man is playing in theaters now.