#sita monkey man

[yrkhn]

i need to rest

[ashsimpsalot]

Sushi in Tokyo (Kid X Sita X Reader)

Yes this is a poly fic, the tittle is based on

MY poly anthem

You entered the cracked up flat to find Kid watching the TV by himself, so deep in the Movie he didn't even realise you were home, a smile formed on your lips, fuck, even though you're hosting two fugitives in your home, the sight is too domestic to not melt your heart.

"I'm home," you announced, closing the door behind you. You turned around to see Kid with a big smile on his lips, standing and walking towards you, as excited as a puppy.

"jaanu, I missed you," he breathed before attaching hid lips to yours, hands wrapping around your waist. You hummed in the kiss.

Once you pulled back you stared into his eyes with a smile before looking at his hair, touching them.

"your curls feels fluffier than usual," you made a comment which earned a chuckle from Kid. He hummed and have your lips a final peck. "Sita put henna on my hair, she said she got bored being stuck in this house." he explained.

The mental image of your girl just running her hands into your man's curls makes you smile.

"where is she?" he lead you to sit you on the couch with him. "she's asleep," he whispered into your hair. The man's already clingy as it is, having you work much more than usual makes Kid crave having you in his arms even more.

You being the only face that is not all over the news for the murder of Rana, Queenie and Baba Shakti, you had decided, it's safer for the them to stay at home until it all die down, then all three of you could make a run to a different region of India, maybe even crossing borders. Anywhere people can't recognise them.

But until then you have to work to supply enough money, for three people, and it's not easy. It takes way much more time than you usually work.

You glance at the blanket that is on the sofa and frowned. "you're sleeping on the couch? Did you two fought?" you asked looking at Kid.

Kid barely loses his cool, Sita, being herself, is always clear on what she wants, what she likes and dislikes. For them to fight is very very rare.

"God, no. She kicked me out of the room because it was too hot, she said I'm a human heater," he said and lightly pouted. You let out a small laugh.

"she's right, you are a heater, and the heat of Mumbai isn't to play with. Plus your habit of hugging while you sleep isn't really helping your case." you teased, kissing his pout off. His eyebrows furrowed. "I can't even cuddle my girls without being rejected," he joked. You love it when Kid is comfortable. When it just the three of you, you get to see this side of him.

"baby?" a sleepy voice interrupted you two you turned around to see Sita with sleepy eyes standing in front of the room.

"hey, pretty girl, come here," you smiled at your girl, fuck even when she just woke up she's so incredibly beautiful. Sita sits herself between Kid and you, playfully pushing Kid away from you earning a small whine from Kid. He positione her so that she's sitting on his lap. On of her hand thrown over his shoulder she lazily kissed him

You smiled and softly placed your thumb on her chin, caressing before leading her in. She smiled and kissed you next.

"how was your nap?" Sita had thrown both her legs into your lap, you chuckled and brought her hand to kiss her palm.

"was good, without the heater bothering me." she joked, Kid tickled her side earning a yelp form her.

"Did I wake you up, sweetheart?" you asked softly, she just shook her head. Taking your hand in hers and begun her favourite pass time. Drawing random shapes on your palm.

"it's raining outside, it got cold," she replied, her fingers tracing letters in your palm. 'I <3 u` again and again and you smiled.

"is that why you came out? To be with the heater?" Kid asked, his arm thrown over your shoulder to pull you closer, you end up with your head on his chest while Sita's head on his neck.

Just what you need after a long day.

Sita didn't answer just let out a small laugh and yelp once again when he tickled her side. "Kidd!" she whined, now switching form drawing letters in your palm to kissing your fingers, almost even suckling on them.

Kid on the other hand has had his nose buried in your hair. Obviously sniffing the hell out of them.

"you two are awfully clingy today," you laughed into Kid's chest, eyes pinned on how pretty Sita's lips are kissing your fingers like that. You're glad that she's comfortable enough to let her oral fixation out and about. She used to say she's insecure about it and try not to do it in public.

"we missed you," Sita said softly before taking her head off of Kid's neck, tilting your chin and kissed your lips. You hummed into the kiss.

"hopefully this thing die down a little soon, I've got my contact for fake IDs already, even all the papers we need, just need this to die down and we can move on," Kid said and sighed. Sita though looked particularly interested. "what?" Kid asked confused. You just laughed because you know your girl all too well.

"you talking about all these matter makes her hot and bothered," you joked which made Sita blush. "hey!" she tried to defend herself before burying her face into Kid's neck, hiding from both of you.Kid chuckled and raised his hand to run it through her hair.

"hot and bothered hm?" he looked over to you with a smirk. You chucked. "such a tease," you laughed at him and kissed his lips, Sita turned her head again, pulling your hand towards her lips and kissed them again.

"i could fall asleep like this," you admitted, earning a him from Kid. A yawn escaped your lips. You looked over to Sita and chuckled when she's settled into placed your index finger into her mouth.

"I might fall asleep," you said again eyes now closed. Kid's hand that was resting on your arm softly move to pat you "sleep, I'll lift you later," you answer with a hum. You felt a kiss on your head and before you know it you're snoring like a baby.

[royalsunshinehotel]

Little Star (Monkey Man, 2024)

Author’s Note: I watched Monkey Man twice this past weekend! Here’s a scene between the woman in the Green Dress, and the dog. This fic is dark and sad, but has a hopeful twist. Tara is pronounced Taara here, and it’s the hindi word for Star. Stay tuned for information about my patreon (soon)!

Blood. Blood everywhere, and it was a beautiful thing, and the thought made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. How far had she fallen from the girl she was, to look at all this destruction in what was left of the kitchen, and see only beauty? 

Sita instinctively picked up the hem of her silky green dress, so it wouldn’t drag on the red tile of the kitchen, as if it mattered now, as if Queenie’s blood hadn’t spattered all over her face when she’d caved her skull in. 

She shuffled forward, slowly, steadily, so as not to slip on her stupid shoes. She’d never minded high heels, she liked the idea of being tall enough to look someone in the eyes, but not now. Not anymore. 

He’d really done it, hadn’t he? A month ago, when he’d taken his first shot at Rana Singh, she knew by the look in his eyes it was only a matter of time. And it was. 

Bobby. 

Another shaky step brought her further to the fucking exit of this cursed place, and she laughed to herself thinking of how she would never come back here. 

She giggled thinking about how hard Queenie had hid the ground, and the dull crunch that her hand made when he’d stolen her thumb. 

It wasn’t funny. Nothing about it would ever be funny, but it sent her forward. There was no other way to go. 

There was a split second, stepping over all of the blood and death, where Sita almost slipped. A moment, where her breath caught and she thought a moment ahead, to when she would have hit the ground. Knowing herself the way she did, she likely would have stayed there. 

But she didn’t. She didn’t. She caught herself, as she always did, and almost winced at the loud clack of her heels on the fatigued pavement. 

The night air was cool, descending like a blanket. When was the last time she’d been outside? She wondered. 

Diwali was in full swing, she could hear it from blocks away. There was a chance she could run into the night and never be seen again. It wasn’t as if her jailers were able to come find her from the afterlife. It wasn’t as if she had any money that could be stolen from her. Anyone who had cared for her was in the wind, or dead, including the man on the top floor with a finger in his pocket. 

Last time she stood in this alley, Sita told him not to keep feeding the dog. That she’d only keep coming back, with hope. Hope breeds misery, and she wouldn’t wish that on such a sweet creature. 

He’d known her tattoo was a koyal, and he’d seen right through the rest of her too. She couldn’t do the same, and she’d hated him for it. 

How could someone wear their softness so openly, and be completely opaque at the same time. She had to hate him, and he’d let her, with complete understanding. But she couldn’t now, could she. . . Why not?

Who was left to tell her she wasn’t ladylike enough, or enough for that matter? In the many evenings from that one night, she’d heard him whistle. Sita copied the tone.

She had been kind once, maybe with everyone dead or gone, she could be again. 

Several heartbeats passed, and she found herself wondering if the dog was alright. She thought the worst, as that’s what the truth probably was. 

The little dog had been trampled to death, maybe some drunk men had decided to torture and kill the poor thing, maybe the sweet creature was in heaven now…Her large eyes began to well, and she tried whatever she could to shove it down. 

Perhaps after all this time, Sita was still a fool. 

And then, tap tap tap tap of little paws on the pavement. 

In the alley, Sita turned slowly, met by a pair of bright, brown eyes, and a warmth spread in her chest, like a paintbrush in water. The dog looked alright, more robust than the last time she’d seen her, and sat perfectly still, waiting. 

She couldn’t help but coo at the good girl. 

“Come here, my little star,” The puppy inched closer, body wiggling in the way babies do, “we can’t stop to eat now, but we will.” 

The dog - Tara, she decided - tapped her cold, wet nose against Sita’s hand, and the woman reached down to pick her up. She was mostly bone, with more muscle and fat than other dogs she’d seen - Bobby would take the credit for that, in her mind. 

By the size of the dog's feet, Tara would be large, and with Sita at her side, she would, in fact, grow up. 

“What have you got?” She asked the puppy,  meeting her big brown eyes, Sita took the burlap scrap, to reveal a gun. A very, very old, heavy gun - loaded. With a note, in bold, curved, letters: 

TIME TO REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

[relmint-draws]

Got exams on Monday

[foxybutton]

Only A Touch

After it all, Kid woke up back at the temple to his friends singing in celebration. Wounds treated. Blood washed away. Stumbling off his floor mat towards the sound of drums. Sitting among them is Sita. Tossing bits of roti to his favorite street dog.

Alpha is the first to notice him. Proudly, beckoned him over. Kid lowers himself down to sit between Alpha and Sita.

"Better stop feeding that dog." He said to Sita in a low voice. A whisper only meant for her ears. "She's going to keep coming back, expecting more. You'll give her hope and break her spirit."

Those words have Sita pulling her arms in. Head hung low as she held herself. Of course, the little dog only nuzzled her legs. Begging for more food even though she would settle for some affection.

Sita's manicured hand reached down to statch at those floppy ears. "Maybe I have enough hope to share with her. Only a touch of it." Sita said, holding back her tears with a smile. Eyes meeting Kid's.

His hand was already seeking her out. The dark softer flesh at the back of his fingers wiping away a stray tear she hadn't felt fall.

[threetrenchcoatsinatrenchcoat]

Monkey Man's cinematography is gorgeous and uses just about every color in every way possible, except for green. as i recall, green is only used in three places: the flashbacks of Bobby's unindustrialized village (and only ever when his mother was alive), the temporary sanctuary of the hijra temple, but also the blueish green dress Sita wears. the movie never shows us if Sita ends up okay after everything because it doesn't have to

[spikershoyo]

morning light | Kid x GN!reader x Sita | fluff | mild suggestiveness

warnings, tags, and notes: mild suggestiveness, kissing, mentions of violence, this is purely self-indulgent and for everyone at the dev patel hive, this is a poly fic don't like it don't read it, if I missed anything please feel free to let me know! @ashsimpsalot MY OFFERING TO YOU BABE

You're reluctant to open your eyes as the sun shines through the window, a gentle reminder that you have to leave the house for work.

But how could you?

You had everything you needed at your side. Well, more like everyone you needed.

Sita was curled up into your chest, her arms wrapped around you while Kid's slithered under you, his other arm draped over both of you. You felt at ease, feeling both of your lovers so close to you.

But that ease is short-lived, seeing that time kept ticking and you needed to head to work.

As quietly as possible you slide out of their grasp and look over both of them, they seem so at peace. It was as if they weren't running away and knocking on your door just a month prior.

You hoped they never had to go through that again. Sita's rose gold dress still hangs over your hamper. Kid's suit was tucked away into a plastic bag in your dresser. The evidence of Queenie's blood along with Baba Shaktie's and Rana's was all over their clothes from that night. It was the only remaining thing tying them back to the violence.

You think about how they looked at your doorstep, both of them shaking because of different reasons. Fear and adrenaline. You could see it in their eyes.

But you don't dwell on that thought, instead opting to head to your bathroom and shower.

At the sound of water running Kid's eyes open slowly, noticing you are no longer in bed with them. It takes him a moment to wake up fully and he relaxes, pulling Sita closer to his chest and hoping you come out before she wakes.

His hands run through her long dark hair, fingers playing with the strands and twirling them. She still smells like roses. Kid smiles at the thought of his girls, his cheeks getting hot. Whether an hour or 15 minutes pass by, he doesn't know, but you're out of the shower and in your work clothes.

He smiles softly when you catch his eye, you seem more awake when you notice he's up. You walk over and sit at the edge of the bed, smiling at the sight of Sita still asleep and curled into Kid's chest.

"Good morning, darling." You whisper and kiss his lips gently. He eases into the kiss and reaches for you, bringing you closer and making you lean down. He was always so needy, especially on the mornings you had work. "Morning." He whispers back, entranced with you already.

Sita stirs softly but you both don't pay mind, too focused on each other. Kid reaches for your waist and you have to force yourself out of his hold because if you didn't you were definitely not going to work that day.

Sita's eyes flutter open, seeing how both of his lovers were in a heated makeout session. She wanted in. "Wow, I see how it is." She whispers, a teasing lilt to her voice. Both of your eyes tear away from each other and fall onto her, the unexpected attention makes her curl into herself but she smiles. You sit on the bed and beckon her over, Sita eagerly shuffles closer to you and kisses up your neck, her customary wakeup routine for you.

You hum and run your hands through her hair then slowly inch under her sleep shirt and rub her back. "How's my girl?" Your voice rings through her ears and she almost purrs, feeling how Kid's eyes run over both of you. Kid looks into your eyes and you see how his gaze begs for both of you.

"I'm great," Sita answers, her hands now running down your arms. The temptation to undress you is a lot for both Kid and Sita, wanting you back in bed. "I'm doing really great." She hums, and her kisses never stop even as she feels Kid's hands snake around her hips.

If only it excites her more. You're just as tempted to ditch work until you see what time it is. Your eyes widen and you cup her cheeks, pressing a kiss to her lips and reaching for Kid's hands and squeezing them. "I need to go." You chuckle, seeing as they are a bit stunned.

Kid fights back a whine, wanting to just pull you down and for him and Sita to have fun with you. Yet he understands that you have more people to take care of since they can't head outside yet, their faces all over the news.

"Fine. But come here for a sec." Sita smiles, leaning in to kiss you one more time. Kid is eager for a kiss as well, you can tell. You give him one and run your hand over his cheek.

"You two behave while I'm gone, yeah?" They share a look, one that says we won't. But you know better.

[princessnijireiki]

we are monkey man (2024) + monkey man (2024) soundtrack playlist stans first and tumblrinas second

[ladyantiheroine]

Y’all, Monkey Man is really good.

[gayiconwaluigi]

Monkey Man clearly outlines how power is a part of gender and how those without power within the state like Sita and the protagonist have more in common with each other despite being categorized as woman and man than they do with their counterparts Queenie and Rana. The genders of Queenie and Rana intersect so that their perpetuation of power and violence within the state is an integral part of their gendered performance. The protagonist eschews the power he could gain within the state via patriarchy or capitalism and thus is performing a non-normative, gender-nonconforming type of masculinity compared to the men within the state who uphold the system. It’s clear that the genders are in conversation with each outside of the system when you acknowledge Sita and the protagonist’s recognition of the self in each other thru their shared cultural background. There is also how the protagonist’s mother lives through him in his memory, and he carries her within him and recognizes and interacts with the suffering of women through that memory. Gender through this lens is more harmonious and fluid as evidenced by those at the temple, than the gender weaponized through power and class via Rana and Queenie.

[butchered-icarian]

Went to watch Monkey Man again with my brother. Noticed another thing.

Spoilers.

-

I want to pat Dev Patel in the back because. Wow.

The Kid's love for his mother made him burnt his future away (the root lines inside his palms), but also his mother saved him by attracting all of the attentions to her.

Later on he was saved by the hijra, he slept under Ardhanarishvara's feet, found a guru in Alpha to reconnect to himself and refind his purpose.

He returned the favour by returning to the ring, fought then won so that he could give the hijra money to fend for themselves and remind Alpha that they were too warriors.

Which lead to them entering the battle to fight alongside with him.

He was kind + has respect towards Sita and she felt a sense of kin / fascination + empathy to him. Sita later saved him from Queenie.

His entire life circled around women and their kindness, feminism and motherly love.

[ashsimpsalot]

Masterlist

Puisi

Kid (Monkey Man)

One shots

Coconut oil & honey

Mera naam...

Part of Cheeni universe:

Beedi with my cheeni

Home to home

Poly fic:

Sushi in Tokyo

Family Business (x Rich!reader)

Ego & Insecurities (x Rich!reader)

Jay Menha (the wedding guest)

Same colour, different eyes

Anwar Kharral (Skins)

Suspicious child, growing up (Teen dad Anwar)

[orpheusilver]

ok one part of monkey man thats really sticking with me is when sita fucking brains queenie with the tray like a badass and it does in fact rule. and its far from the most brutal thing shown in that movie or even that scene alone like its a damn bloodbath in there holy SHIT the fight scenes are so visceral i love it. anyway. i love the moment after that. a lesser movie wouldve let sita have her badass revenge and then shed stand there all bloodied like a vengeful badass and her and the kid would have a moment of badass to badass communication and then he would move on, the whole thing would take 15 seconds tops. but they stop for a full. like a minute i think. as shes suddenly a murderer, and realizing shes a murderer, and him completely understanding what that moment feels like, and her understanding that he understands, and then he slowly, gently, takes the murder weapon away from her and. augh. after all the blood and death in the whole thing and before the final confrontations (before the whole "noooo the cycle of violence dont kill meeee" thing) they take this minute of trauma and empathy to acknowledge that yes, sometimes violence is justified and necessary, but you cant do these things and walk away from it okay. thats something that tends to get lost in a lot of action movies, and it adds a lot more weight to all the brutal fucking violence throughout the movie. great character moment for the kid too. christ

[relmint-draws]

Monkey Man things

[whenmemorydies]

Violence and Love in Monkey Man

Dev Patel's Monkey Man has played at my mind for two weeks now. This is for reasons that I'm able to articulate and for many that I probably have not yet been able to find the words for. This post is, in part, my attempt at sorting through some of my thoughts. My tumblr is all spoilers all the time. If you don’t want that, then please don’t read on.

Violence

Like most places in the world, systemic violence is a scourge in India. Monkey Man does not shy away from this reality and depicts Hindu nationalist state violence and violence against women and gendered minorities in the country to chilling effect.

We come to see this in the brutal rape and murder of Kid's activist mother at the hands of the police, while she tries to shield her child and her land from police and state terror. We see it in the treatment of (largely femme-presenting) sex workers in the two brothels featured in the film, including one frequented by the police and political elite. We see it in the violence and ostracisation meted out against the hijra, or third gender community by individual actors and the state more broadly. We see it in the state-orchestrated razing of an entire community after the land on which it sits is declared a "holy site". We see it in the movement of people from the regions to the city after their land has been stolen and the grinding poverty they face as a result.

Unlike so many action films, none of the violence in Monkey Man occurs in a vacuum. Even Kid's original means of making money in an underground fighting ring is done against the backdrop of his forced displacement from regional India to the city - a migration pathway that many in the country have been forced to take and which is a direct result of land theft and resource extraction in the regions by local and multinational corporations as well as federal and state governments.

The truth is that so much in relation to state and societal control is enacted in painful and violent ways on the bodies of the marginalised and oppressed. And I often think about how the horror and action genres are some of the best suited to speak about systemic injustice because of their capacity to make that violence uncompromisingly visible (one recent example is Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass which depicted the bloody fallout of the Christian missionary/colonial project in vivid crimson, splashed all over a non-descript maritime town in present-day America). The violence in Monkey Man is no different.

While Kid's realisation of the interconnectedness and heavy hand of the state not just in the violence experienced by his mother, but also by the hijra, and by sex workers like Sita comes later in the movie, we as the audience are given this insight earlier. Recall Kid pointing out to Sita that her tattoo is of a koel, not a sparrow as originally misidentified by the Australian client sexually assaulting her minutes earlier in the film.

Kid goes on to say that he grew up in the forest and woke up to koels singing everyday. Its the longest conversation that the two have but in those brief words, we understand that Sita too has likely been displaced to the city from the regions, probably under very similar circumstances to Kid. The way this displacement maps itself onto her body is distinctive to how it does so for Kid, with gender playing a large role in this.

Other factors like caste, class and religion also impact on how the characters in this film experience or perpetrate violence. I would write more on these intersections but then this post is going to get more unwieldy than it already is.

I will say though, that in India, where fascist Hindu nationalism is being used by government to harm minority communities, steal land and secure populist votes, Patel makes a distinction between revelatory and weaponised faith. Kid is raised in peace by his mother with the former, but as an adult he lives in a world where the latter has taken hold and is being used by those in power to shore up more of that power for themselves.

For me - as the descendant of parents, grandparents and great grandparents who lived through anti-Tamil pogroms led by Sinhalese chauvinists weaponising Buddhism as part of their fascism in Sri Lanka, who like the rest of us, is living in an election year for Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, and who is also frustratingly, helplessly bearing witness as the state of Israel and it’s allies conflate Zionism with Judaism in defence of the genocide being waged against Palestinians - watching this action film make the distinction between revelatory and weaponised faith was profound.

Love

Patel makes it a point in this film to show how Kid's most nourishing relationships, the ones that sustain him - indeed the ones that literally save his life - are those that he has with women and with people who don’t conform to the gender binary. In doing this, we see what Kid is fighting tooth (quite literally) and nail for throughout the film. We see what is at stake - what we stand to lose - if perpetrators get to rule without accountability.

Its also no mistake that these relationships are all tied visually to the natural world in the film: Kid's mother's deep ties to the earth, rivers, trees and roots that she leads him through as a child. Alpha and the hijra's sanctuary, the Ardhanareeshvara temple with its most sacred space being the roots of a holy tree. Sita and her koel tattoo: the memory of the forest carried on her skin while she traverses the brutal reality of the city. Patel is making a point here too. About nourishment of another kind, through our connection with the earth instead of extraction from it. The visuals in the film drive this point home, particularly when contrasted with the industrialisation and poverty of the city.

Two particular loving relationships that stood out for me were the love shared between Kid and the hijra community as well as between him and his mother.

Alpha, hijra Elder and the hijra community

Keeper of the Ardhanareeshvara Temple and hijra Elder, Alpha becomes a mother-figure to Kid after he is rescued with near-fatal injuries. It is Alpha who keeps watch over him as he recovers, helps Kid to confront the totality of his past memories which his trauma has kept fragmented, and who ultimately leads a veritable hijra army to join forces with him to assassinate some fascists.

Alpha's gentleness with Kid was so moving to see, in particular during the conversation they have about his attempt as a child to save his mother from the fire set by her rapist and murderer. That exchange moved me to tears.

Kid: I failed her.

Alpha: No. You tried to save her. You see scars. I see the courage of a child fighting to save his mother.

The wider hijra community at the temple also take Kid in and care for him during his recovery. Truly, the scenes at the temple were some of my favourite in Monkey Man. Outside of his memories of his mother, they are the only scenes where we see love, peace and joy on the faces of any of the characters in this film.

Also witness this moment of delight below as the hijra at the temple appreciate a fine ass man channelling his righteous anger and fucking up a punching bag full of rice. I note that the music during this training montage is simply stunning. Ustad Zakir Hussain's rapid fire tablas punctuated by each of Patel's landed punches and kicks and then followed by Jed Kurzel's achingly soaring instrumentals (listen to "The Kid" from the movie's score) were just *chef’s kiss*.

Another favourite moment for me was when Kid decides to go back to the underground fight ring one last time and not throw his matches (as he had been doing prior). He bets on himself and when he inevitably wins his fights, he takes the money and gives it to the hijra, ensuring that they can continue to live at the temple without fear of being evicted. We love to see a man who literally pays his rent.

Neela, his mother

Kid’s first teacher and the center of his life as a child. In almost every memory we are shown of her, Kid remembers his mother walking through a forest, sharing her ecological and religious knowledge with him and in doing so, positioning him within the wider world.

GIF by dailyflicks

We watch as he takes this understanding with him forward through the remainder of the film. His conversation as an adult with Alphonso as they drive through the city in the latter's tuk tuk is emblematic of this. "They don't even see us", Kid says of the elite who frequent the club where he has just gained employment, "they're all up there living and we are stuck in this."

His mother showed him what it was to live: to be still and in concert with the world and the Divine around you, to be loved fiercely, and to thrive as a result. This is in stark contrast to what Kid has had to learn to do in the city: to survive, to merely exist. He is never depicted resting or at home as an adult. He's always working, hustling and planning for the next thing, his next step. When he loses his village, his land and his mother as a child, Kid also inevitably loses his sense of home. It’s no coincidence that the tracks “Home” and “Mother” on the movie’s score sound almost identical.

Later at the end of the film, we see Kid close his eyes, having done what he set out to do. The last thing he sees is his mother, smiling at him in the forest. Her face is the face of God he gazes at before he succumbs to his injuries. This devotion to his mother is not just that of a child to a parent. Its also deeply tied to his Hindu faith which calls on its followers to honour the Divine Mother, the supreme feminine energy, Aathi Parashakthi, in all her manifestations including in those who mother us.

The movie ends with Kid’s deep, revelatory faith - instilled in him by his mother - and with the death of the man who weaponised that faith for power and wealth. It left all of us in the cinema seated in stunned silence even as the credits began to roll.

To describe Monkey Man as simply a revenge film does it an absolute disservice. This is not revenge. It is defence borne out of deep love for community and righteous opposition to injustice. Seeing hijra warriors dressed as Kali, the goddess of destruction, dealing death blows against fascists while spinning in the most beautiful lenghas was exhilarating (I literally screamed “YESSSSSSS!” at the screen when they arrived). Seeing Sita take out pimp and sex trafficker Queenie got me cackling and yelling “whoooop!”. Seeing Kid, a masculine character act to defend women and people outside of the gender binary, from further systemic harm without any ulterior motive was absolutely unreal to witness on the big screen. Seeing a person of faith act in deep connection to that faith without judgment against anyone but those who perpetrate harm made me feel hopeful in a way that took me by surprise. Kid acted out of love and respect. I would argue that Sita, the hijra and Kid all acted out of recognition of a shared humanity.

And at a time when folks from marginalised communities are being subjected to horrendous violence worldwide, both interpersonal and systemic, watching the oppressed take their perpetrators out…and I mean out (see: a rapist and murderer getting bludgeoned to death with a glittery high heel and a fascist, self-proclaimed “holy man” being stabbed in his third eye by the blade he hid in his own “sacred” pathankal/paduka), well, it was cathartic to see.

Am I saying violence is the answer to systemic violence? I think the answer to that question is context-specific. Non-violent resistance has a place, but it’s by necessity a performance and requires an audience. What do you do when no one’s watching? What do you do when the people who are watching are doing nothing to stop your suffering? What then? These questions are what many liberals refuse to grapple with because the answers are too uncomfortable for their polite sensibilities. But if you keep your foot on someone's neck long enough, you should expect them to fight back, by any means necessary. In Monkey Man, we have an action film where we get to witness that resistance in all its visceral glory.

[royalsunshinehotel]

"The Kid"/ Hanuman (Monkey Man, 2024)

NSFW Alphabet / SFW Alphabet

Little Star: Sita leaves skyscraper at the end of the film, and makes a friend on the way.

talkin' rings and talkin' cradles (18+) : Kid stops to see you before the raid

Good (18+)

Kid x Knives HCs

Drabble

How Can I? (18+) : BE GUILTY AS SIN💥💥💥💥💥