Last year, actor Sobhita Dhulipala shot for Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man. On social media, she posted snippets of articles announcing the news, with the caption, “Wish me luck #MonkeyMan”. Monkey Man follows the story of a convict who leaves prison to take revenge on his enemies in a world filled with corporate greed. Netflix picked up a majority of the world rights for the film and will release it in 2022. Dev plays the lead role.
Talking to the Hindustan Times about the opportunity, Sobhita said she had auditioned for five years ago, “I had auditioned for it almost five years ago and I got a call back in a few days for a screen test with Dev. It was on the day I was leaving for the Cannes Film festivaI. After a lot of twists and turns in the film’s journey and our personal lives, feels like we belonged together. The project’s collaborative spirit was very appealing to me. I really enjoyed my character’s tender dilemmas.”
Earlier scheduled to be shot in India, the shoot of the film was shifted to Indonesia due to the pandemic. Sobhita also talked to Hindustan Times about shooting during the pandemic saying she ‘enjoyed every second’, “This is the closest I have been to my own self, my family and my pursuits. I shot for Monkey Man during a global health crisis, which has its share of inconveniences but I didn’t find my journey during the film particularly challenging.”
Sobhita has been a part of projects like Netflix’s Ghost Stories and Amazon Prime’s Made in Heaven. The latter was renewed for a second season also starring Sobhita. She recently wrapped up the shoot for Malayalam film Kurup co-starring Dulquer Salmaan.
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Monkey Man also stars Sharlto Copley and Sikandar Kher. It is written by Paul Angunawela and John Collee alongside director Dev Patel.
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