Monkey Man marks the successful directorial debut of the actor who first emerged on our screens as Anwar Kharral in Skins.
His importance and significance stem from breaking the ceiling for Indians and their stereotypes on film.
From the renowned E4 drama to Slumdog Millionaire, Dev quickly rose to prominence, with many projecting him to be the next big thing. Despite additional critically acclaimed performances in Lion, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Green Knight, and other films, he has been mainly missing in recent years, despite his unquestionable skill.
The British-Asian actor has previously expressed concerns about being typecast and under-represented, as well as the significant shortage of South Asians in the TV and film industries. But now that he’s produced, directed, and starred in Monkey Man, which is currently in theatres, his world has come full circle.
In Skins, the actor played the charming yet humorous Muslim teenager Anwar, who managed his love for his faith, family, and Class A drugs. For South Asians growing up in the UK, it provided an opportunity to see themselves represented on TV in a way that was not based on violent stereotypes. To be validated and seen without being labelled.
Dev, like his co-stars Daniel Kaluuya and Kaya Scodelario, was rocketed to prominence with his debut film appearance at the age of 18 in Danny Boyle’s multi-award-winning Slumdog Millionaire. He played Jamal, an orphan from the Mumbai slums, who is one question away from winning the top prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Following that, the actor landed a number of highly praised and award-winning performances, including Lion and Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. However, his appearance on film felt unusual.
He had to wait for an Indian job where he could put on a thick accent because there weren’t any other options; it was all clichés – stupid sidekick, taxi driver, etc. It was difficult for him to secure roles following Slumdog Millionaire. He sometimes felt that he was in a cultural limbo. He is not totally British or Indian.
But now, Dev has taken matters into his own hands. He wrote, produced, and directed the action-packed thriller Monkey Man, in which he plays Kid, a man seeking vengeance on the corrupt officials who murdered his mother and continue to victimise the poor and defenceless. The film establishes Dev as the multifaceted leading man that Hollywood was too slow to recognise.
Monkey Man has gotten flawless reviews and standing ovations at several film festivals. People like Dev Patel deserve far more than to be typecast or stereotyped.
I hope Monkey Man is one of many more different parts that await him, not just showcasing his talent and variety but also representing adequately. The Monkey Man’s widespread success will ideally result in a substantial shift in Patel’s career, setting him on a path to even larger and better things.
Dev Patel is my Indian Diaspora Man of the Year.
Patel was born to Indian parents in London in 1990 who were originally from Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya had roughly 180,000 Indians in the early 1960s, but once the country gained independence, many of them left, resulting in a 100,000-person reduction in Kenya’s Indian population by 1980. The majority of Indians who left Kenya settled in London and Leicester, UK. Interestingly, one of the best films about an Indian family from Kenya who emigrate elsewhere is Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala (1991), starring Sarita Choudhury in her first film role – who would go on to play Patel’s mother exactly 30 years later in David Lowery’s The Green Knight (2021). Patel has previously commented about the common experience of those born in Western countries such as the United Kingdom or the United States to immigrant parents, namely not feeling British or Indian enough. With the extra difficulty of his parents being African-born, his immigration experience becomes even more complicated, making his relationship to his identity much more hazy and fluid.
Another intriguing detail about Patel is that he was born on April 23, St. George’s Day, the feast day of England’s patron saint. But it wasn’t until 2019-2021 (when Patel was desperately trying to get Monkey Man made) that he finally played two quintessentially and iconic English ‘Everyman’ literary characters: Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield (Dickens’ most autobiographical novel) and Sir Gawain (a knight of King Arthur’s Round Table) in The Green Knight. If you watch the behind-the-scenes documentary on The Green Knight Blu-ray, you’ll notice that the Green Chapel scene was filmed on Patel’s birthday, and therefore on St. George’s Day – which simply feels so natural, as if it was planned.
After acting in Skins alongside many other actors who went on to become stars (including Nicholas Hoult and Daniel Kaluuya), Danny Boyle cast Patel in Slumdog Millionaire, a big box office blockbuster that won Best Picture. Unfortunately, Patel followed this up by playing the evil Prince Zuko in M. Night Shyamalan’s renowned movie office catastrophe and critical failure, The Last Airbender. This was Patel’s first major action role, and it allowed him to showcase his passion and martial arts skills. The film was so dismal that Patel’s martial arts skills were not used again until Monkey Man in 2024, eight years after The Last Airbender was released.
Lion (2016) marked a watershed moment for Patel, as he underwent a physical metamorphosis for the film, growing his hair long, growing a beard, and filling out. He is now in his mid-20s, and this is the first role in which he appears more like an adult than an awkward, gangly youngster. It was also a huge dramatic performance, in which he starred with Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara, and it earned him an Oscar nomination.
In 2018, he starred in what many labelled his ‘Bond audition’, the underappreciated The Wedding Guest. This part combines action and romance in a road trip movie set in Pakistan and India. and is absolutely worth seeing to get to know Dev better.
Frustratingly, the pandemic years produced two of Patel’s best films and performances, which were overlooked because of their timing. Patel has played various Indian-born roles, beginning with a chaiwala in Slumdog Millionaire and progressing to hotel workers in no fewer than four films. These characters are mainly lowly boys/men who serve others (primarily white people), and he plays with this concept in Monkey Man, mocking the assumptions of individuals from humble backgrounds.
With David Copperfield and Sir Gawain, Patel finally got to play two British men who were not only at the centre of their own story, but were also wrestling with it in front of our eyes. Taking on these two renowned literary figures, who are intertwined with the history of Great Britain, revealed a whole different side of Patel, but it’s fascinating that both of these characters fight with their own destinies and identities.
The Personal History of David Copperfield was scheduled for a 2020 release in the United States, but it was only seen once it became available on Prime Video, due to movie theatre closures.
Patel demonstrates his range in Lowery’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (released in 2021, when movie theatre attendance had yet to return to pre-pandemic levels) by using stillness (which he admits to struggling with, as he describes himself as extremely hyperactive) and silence. While Patel’s performance as Gawain could not be more different from David Copperfield, there are so many similarities between the characters and films that the possibility of coincidence is pushed to the limit. Both David and Gawain have ambiguous identities; Copperfield is called every name but his own by his many companions throughout the film, tolerating being called whatever pleases others rather than himself.
Patel has starred in three films with young actors playing key roles as his younger self. Patel has expressed how vital it is to him that young Indian or British-Indian lads acquire these roles, as he could never have envisaged seeing young Indian actors onscreen in major films, let alone playing them himself as a child.
By finally taking his career into his own hands with Monkey Man, after what could be called a career that has yet to satisfy its promise or potential, Patel is finally saying The Green Knight’s concluding words: “Now I’m ready. “I’m ready now.” Patel, like Copperfield, is becoming the hero of his own story, claiming ownership and autonomy over his work and taking control of his own life. And it’s not too soon.
Dev concurs, “I’m just very tough on myself,” prior to mentioning, “I don’t know if that comes from growing up in an immigrant family, that it’s in our blood that we have to work doubly hard.” Later, he explains, “I’m constantly working from a place of never feeling good enough.” And I work on it.
Patel concealed his immigrant status at school. “I tried to be like Dizzee Rascal. That was what we expected.” Acting eventually led him back to India. (He describes the country as “a constant source of inspiration.” However, it is acting that has propelled him forward.
Interesting Facts about Actor Dev Patel
He was born in Harrow, London, and both his parents are of Gujarati Indian descent.
Dev Patel was born on April 23, 1990, in Harrow, London, to Anita and Raju Patel, both Indian Gujarati Hindus. While his parents are Indian, they were born and reared in Kenya, which has a big Indian immigrant population. They immigrated to the UK as youngsters and met in London. His forefathers are from Jamnagar and Unjha, Gujarat, India. He has a sister, named Komal Patel.
Patel was reared Hindu and is claimed to speak some Gujarati. Patel grew up in Harrow’s Rayners Lane neighbourhood, attending Longfield Primary School and Whitmore High School. He was a “hyperactive child” who spent his childhood participating in a wide range of hobbies, including martial arts.
He graduated from Whitmore High School in 2007 with A Levels in PE, Biology, History, and Drama whilst working on Skins.
He has a girlfriend.
Patel met his current partner, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, while filming Hotel Mumbai in 2016. They both starred in the action-based dramatic thriller about the 2008 terrorist assault on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. Cobham-Hervey also co-directed a short film with Patel called Roborovski (2021), which is about a violent hamster who wreaks havoc after being ignored by the pet shop’s clients.
In April 2022, they relocated to Cobham-Hervey’s hometown of Adelaide, South Australia. The pair posed for photos for the first time on the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of Patel’s directorial debut, Monkey Man, on April 2, 2024.
He holds a Black Belt in Taekwondo.
His martial arts abilities came in handy much earlier in his professional life. Patel was entrusted with honing his martial arts skills for his role in The Last Airbender, so he studied with his long-time mentor, Stuart Anslow. Patel has been practicing with him since childhood and has a genuine passion for the sport.
He began training at Rayners Lane Academy of Taekwondo in 2000. He participated in numerous national and international events, including the 2004 AIMAA (Action International Martial Arts Association) World events in Dublin, where he won a bronze medal. In October 2004, he competed at the World Championships as a red belt in the junior division against other red and black belts. He advanced to the semi-finals, where he lost to an Irish black belt named Niall Fitzmaurice in “a very close and tough fight” and received a bronze medal. Later, in March 2006, he received his 1st Dan black belt.
He is not active on social media.
The actor appears to be inactive across all social media platforms, including Instagram and X (previously Twitter). The actor has previously remarked in interviews that he believes social media removes individuals from face-to-face communication.
His mom encouraged him to audition for Anwar in Skins.
When his mother discovered a casting call for the controversial British adolescent drama Skins, she pushed him to audition, and he eventually earned the role of Anwar. In the episode, Anwar is a young Pakistani-British teenager who, although being reared in an Islamic household, constantly violates his religion’s laws by engaging in premarital sex, eating pork, drinking alcohol, and using drugs. Anwar’s tendency to disobey rules is consistent with the show’s other characters, who frequently resort to vices and rule-breaking to keep themselves sane in a world full of teen angst. In Skins, he appeared alongside now-established actors Nicholas Hoult and Daniel Kaluuya, who played Tony Stonem and Posh Kenneth, respectively.
However, the rowdiness wasn’t limited to the screen; Patel has disclosed on multiple occasions that the Skins cast enjoyed crazy drug-fuelled parties, which he describes as memorable and insane.
He spent several months preparing for Lion (2016).
Unsurprisingly, Patel spent more than half a year preparing for Lion, which tells the joyful and amazing story of a young man’s search for his birth mother.
Lion is the story of Saroo, a 5-year-old Indian child who becomes lost after his brother abandons him on a train station bench while scavenging for food in their hometown of Khandwa, India. After urgently trying to find his brother on a train, he falls asleep again and ends up 900 miles away from Kolkata. After surviving on the streets, officials apprehend him and discover he is unable to provide information about his home or his mother’s. He is then adopted by an Australian and lives in Tasmania until adult Saroo, now officially known as Saroo Brierley, decides to utilise Google Maps to track for his biological mother. Patel played Saroo, an emotionally charged character, in the 2016 film and described it as “an astounding anthem of humanity.”
To prepare for Lion, Patel worked with an accent coach to mimic Brierley’s Australian accent and hit the gym to tone his physique. Patel also engaged in “introspection” for the character of Saroo Brierley, which entailed looking at his reflections for an hour and writing what he felt in a diary. He also went to the orphanage where the real Saroo lived in 1986. The actor was greeted with the message “Welcome Lion” painted on the floor, and the children frequently referred to him as a “hero” during his visit, which Patel claimed made him feel “like a fake.”
Awards & Recognitions
Filmography
