I think it was just yesterday that I was discussing with a friend about the month of April. I’ve often mentioned that 2024 started really slow in the first two months for the film business. However, the month of March always looked promising as blockbusters like Dune: Part Two, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire were lined up for release. As expected, the theatres were full the entire month. However, as we step into April you’d notice that there is nothing hype worthy. No one is looking forward to any film. Just as I made this point, my friend reminded me that I’m forgetting about one film. Which one? Dev Patel’s directorial debut – Monkey Man. Talking about the film, let’s talk about its India release date and the recent controversy it has landed into.
Is Monkey Man Appeasing The Ruling Party In India?
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man seems to have landed into an unwanted controversy of appeasing a political party in India. If you’ve seen the trailer for the film then you know the entire story of the film is set in India. Along with that, most of the cast members including Dev Patel are also Indian. Given this, coupled with the popularity of Dev Patel in India (because of Slumdog Millionaire) and the impressive trailer, it is a no brainer that there will be many takers for the film in the country.
Naturally, Dev Patel is on a mission to promote the film in India and during the promotional campaign many netizens have pointed out that the film is trying to appease the ruling party of India by rebranding the film as “Hindu friendly”. Check out the X post below:
‘Monkey Man’ changes the colour of the evil political party flag from saffron to red, before release in India.
This is shameful. @JordanPeele https://t.co/qZRJAeqilQ
— Siddharth (@DearthOfSid) March 24, 2024
While everyone has the right to have their own interpretation of this change, I personally believe that in a country like India where each color has significance to a certain religion, sect or a political group there is no one way of anything being neutral. Imagine green color being there, I mean that would’ve certainly raised more eyebrows.
I think depicting the color red as the color of the evil political party is a good idea because red could represent dictatorship, oppression, anti-democracy and extreme toxicity across the world. Red is always associated with danger. I also don’t find a problem with films making minute adjustments in order to not offend a particular demographic. No one raises questions when China changes the endings of the films to push their propaganda, at least we don’t do anything of that sort in here.
I mean Oppenheimer literally had a scene where the lead of the film was having sex while reading the Bhagavad-Gita, a sacred text for majority of the population in our country. Did we ban the film? No. In fact, Oppenheimer collected more than Rs. 150 crores in India. So, I request you guys to not fall prey to such false agendas that put India in a bad light as an intolerant nation that needs to be appeased all the time.
When Will It Release In India?
We all know that the Dev Patel directorial is releasing theatres this weekend i.e., April 5th in the US. However, it was made clear that the film won’t simultaneously release in India. Instead a release date of April 19th was given for the Indian audience, however, due to some recent events it appears that the film has been delayed furthermore in India.
Recent social media posts by Universal Pictures India no longer mention the April 19th release date, opting instead for a vague ‘Coming soon.’ Even on ticket platforms like BookMyShow, the film’s release date has disappeared. Speculation is rife that the film may not make its scheduled April 19th premiere.
An insider has told us that the film was delayed due to pending clearance from the CBFC. The source stated, “The studio wants to bring Monkey Man to theatres in India on April 19. But it all depends on its clearance by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The film has excessive violence and there are fears that some of its aspects might hurt the sentiments of the section of the audience. Hence, the Censor process is expected to take time. Also, the Universal Studios team in the USA also needs to permit the changes asked by the CBFC. Once they approve, the local team will carry out the changes and only then, the team will announce the release date.”
The source further elaborated that if the clearance isn’t give soon then the film might be delayed to April 26th. The source concluded with, “If the process gets completed on time, Monkey Man will be released in India on April 19th. Or else, it’ll release a week later, on April 26th. A clearer picture will emerge in a week’s time, hopefully.”
Along with Dev Patel in the lead, Monkey Man stars Sobhita Dhulipala, Sikandar Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Makarand Deshpande, Ashwini Kalsekar, Vipin Sharma and Sharito Copley.
Monkey Man will release in theatres near you on April 5th, 2024.
If you have any questions regarding Monkey Man, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!
