Dev Patel has “heard all about” the lookalike contest he inspired.

At the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, Patel, 34, spoke with Variety about the Dev Patel lookalike contest at Dolores Park in San Francisco on Nov. 10.

“I’m surprised more than five people showed up,” the Slumdog Millionaire star said. “I was quite overwhelmed by it and very touched.”

“I also gotta say that I think most of the men who showed up were far more handsome and qualified than I am. I think I would have lost at my own lookalike contest, for sure,” Patel added.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The event — which is one of many celebrity lookalike competitions to have taken place since October’s viral Timothée Chalamet contest — was hosted by Sitara Bellam, 26, and Tasnim Khandakar, 27, reports NBC News.

“I was genuinely blown away by the crowd and the interest in the event,” Bellam told NBC News of the competition, which reportedly drew hundreds of people. She told the outlet that she was “really excited” the event, which she planned “on a whim as a joke” and promoted with “a single flier up in Berkeley,” was “able to center and celebrate brown / South Asian men.”

Patel told Variety that he was “shocked at the sheer amount of people that showed up” and that he thought the contest was “really amazing.”

The winner of the doppelgänger contest, 25-year-old Jaipreet Hundal from San Jose, received a giant $50 check, a “Monkey Man” statue and a bouquet of flowers, according to NBC News.

“Shoutout to all the Dev Patel lookalikes,” Hundal said in a speech following his win. “If the real Dev Patel shows up, I don’t know who would win, me or him.”

Unlike Chalamet, 28, who crashed his own competition and caused a frenzy, Patel was a no-show at his namesake event. Still, Patel thinks the lookalike contest was a way to spotlight diversity.

“Hopefully, I am just the gateway to this happening to all sorts of brilliant actors of different races and genders,” the Monkey Man director said. “It was refreshing to see a community come together like that and, hey, if there is ever a moment where I can be associated with some form of laughter and joy, it’s great. It is all good.” 

Patel’s next film, Rabbit Trap, will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.