‘Monkey Man’ Star Sobhita Dhulipala On Being “Accountable” As An Actor & How Dev Patel’s Directorial Debut Changed Her Life

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“I’ve felt that being called ‘niche’ is a compliment, actually,” Monkey Man star Sobhita Dhulipala tells Deadline. It is nighttime in India when we catch up with the star, and we are discussing a recent profile that dubbed her a “niche Indian actress.” “In India, there’s the conventional idea of a mainstream commercial film star where they love you because you entertain and give them escape, but you’re not really accountable as an actor to stand for anything,” she explains. “I guess my expectation from a different kind of actor who does films that reach my heart and travel with me would be somehow more personal, and that is a bit of a niche.” Dhulipala’s choice of roles has reflected this mentality.

Born in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, she followed the career pipeline that takes a person from beauty pageants to acting, a path trodden by Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai and more.

She left a degree in corporate law to represent India in Miss Earth 2013, and went on to make her acting debut in acclaimed director Anurag Kashyap’s psychological crime thriller Raman Raghav 2.0. “I feel like I’ve been seen as someone who’s more ‘alternative’, for the lack of a better word,” says Dhulipala, using air quotes around the world ‘alternative.’ Although she has appeared in several Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films, her most well-known role before Monkey Man was arguably as wedding planner Tara Khanna in Prime’s Video’s Made In Heaven.

The vengeful, sometimes conniving and selfish character is not particularly likeable but over the course of three seasons she becomes one to root for.  ‘Monkey Man’ Even before these roles came about, Dhulipala had auditioned to be Sita in Monkey Man, a first-time directorial venture for S