Dev Patel Apologizes To Makarand Deshpande For Cutting Crucial 'Monkey Man' Scene Due To Political Reasons

Dev Patel in Monkey Man.

Actor Makarand Deshpande recently shared that a crucial scene featuring him in the action film ‘Monkey Man’ was cut. He was informed about the edit by Dev Patel, the film’s director and star, just before its US premiere. According to Makarand, this scene was the “soul” of the film and crucial to its underlying philosophy. Despite the film’s anticipation, it still awaits a theatrical release in India.

In a conversation with Siddharth Kanan, Makarand recounted, “For the premiere of Monkey Man, I went to California. Before that, Dev Patel said he wants to have a word with me. He said, ‘That’s the scene I love the most, but we had to edit it for some reason… for some political (reason)… you understand’ and he just mumbled. I kept on looking at him and said, ‘Dev, wasn’t that scene the philosophy of your film?’ He was like, ‘Oh yes, man, but you will still like your role, I am sorry, but you will like it.’”

Makarand continued, “When I saw the film, I said no problem. But I know that scene — woh agar rehta toh kya maza aata. It had that punch, an edited scene won’t matter to the audience, but it matters to the actor. In my understanding, it was the rooh (soul) of the film, it may not be for Dev. It is getting a lot of critical acclaim, might in the Oscar race later and is like their Satya.”

‘Monkey Man,’ starring Dev Patel as Kid who seeks revenge against corrupt leaders responsible for his mother’s death, was initially scheduled for an April 19 release in India. However, the release is pending due to the need for clearance from the CBFC, reportedly due to its depiction of violence, sexual content, and references to Hindu religion and mythology. Following its release on VOD in the US, the film has been pirated, leading trade sources to speculate that a theatrical release in India is becoming increasingly unlikely.

However, a peaking with Lallantop Cinema, Makarand assured that Monkey Man will be released in India and the producers are already in talks with the concerned teams about it. He added that Monkey Man’s release in India was probably delayed due to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. He assured that there was nothing objectionable in the film and added that the film will be released in India eventually.

“Kabhi bhi release ho sakti hai, film mein aise kuch hai nahi ke release rok dein (The movie doesn’t have anything in it that could cancel its release, it can be released any time). I feel because of the elections everything is stopped. What I’d heard from the producer is that they were in talks, and it was supposed to be released, but… The film should be released. But according to me, this film is going to pass the test of time; there are some films like Satya, and this is one of them,” he said.

Previously, Deadline reported that the film was originally to stream on Netflix. The platform purchased the film, but they had doubts about releasing it in the Indian market. Later, as reported, Monkey Man’s co-financier, Bron Studios, declared bankruptcy, proving to be a challenge for the film.