When we get on a call with Vipin Sharma, he is recovering from jet lag after a month-long press tour of Monkey Man in the US. The world has seen and loved Dev Patel’s maiden directorial venture, but it remains unreleased in India. First things first, we ask him what’s happening with the India release. His answer is expectedly vague. “I don’t know. But I’ve never had a doubt this film will reach its audience.” Sooner or later, he adds. Later, we guess. 

But that doesn’t dim the excitement around Monkey Man that has been a much-discussed movie lately. Previously seen in Taare Zameen Par (2007) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Sharma portrays Alpha, the leader of a transgender community, who supports Patel’s character when he faces adversity. The actor, who had met Patel briefly when they shot Hotel Mumbai (2019) in India, says he didn’t audition for the part in the action fare. “Dev told me that when he saw Hotel Mumbai in London, he immediately thought that he would write Alpha keeping me in mind. When we met for Monkey Man, I read the lines without thinking of Alpha as a trans person. I didn’t want to make it about gender [alone]. Human beings are all about their souls eventually.”