Dev Patel On Wanting To ‘Include Hijra Community’ In Monkey Man; Calls His Movie ‘Anthem For Underdogs’

Dev Patel stated that for him, Monkey Man “is an anthem for the underdogs, the voiceless, and the marginalised.”.

Dev Patel made his directorial debut with Monkey Man. He recently spoke about including the “hijra community” in his film. In an interview with Variety, Dev talked about “the third gender in India.”. Monkey Man consists of a group of trans and gender-nonconforming characters who join Kid, played by Dev, in his fight against India’s elite.

Dev Patel On Wanting To ‘Include Hijra Community’

Dev Patel, while discussing the inclusion of gender in his movie, said, “For me, this is an anthem for the underdogs, the voiceless, and the marginalised. Together, they wage this war for the good and the just, and  I wanted to include the hijra community, the third gender in India. We should be fighting for each other, not against each other.” (Read More: ‘Made In Heaven’ Fame Sobhita Dhulipala Makes Hollywood Debut With Dev Patel)

‘Sort of reluctant director’

At the movie’s Los Angeles premiere, Dev talked about how he was hesitant to direct a motion picture. He said he became “a reluctant writer and then a sort of reluctant director” on the project. After he pitched it to previous collaborator Neill Blomkamp to direct, Blomkamp told the actor he should helm it himself because of his attachment to the material.

Vipin Sharma who played a trans woman in the film

Vipin Sharma played trans woman Alpha in the movie ‘Monkey Man’. He recently attended a screening of the movie for the trans community. “I was almost in tears when they said they loved it, they loved the representation, and they were very happy about it. That just touched my heart,” Vipin confessed.