Would you dismiss #DannyBoyle’s Oscar winner #SlumdogMillionaire as a film made for foreign audiences? Does it exploit India’s poverty and social limitations? Are movies like #SeriousMen in the same genre. Poverty Porn did you say? But hold on.. Didn’t #SatyajitRay look at the same themes in the #ApuTrilogy? Didn’t #BoogJoonHo’s #Parasite do the same? #AravindAdiga remains one of my favourite authors and having read the book many years ago, I looked forward to watching and writing about this film. This film is an adaptation of the Man Booker prize winning novel.
ASHOK’s FIVE reviews #TheWhiteTiger streaming now on #NetflixIndia. Directed by #RaminBahrani, this is the story of Balram’s (#AdarshGourav) improbable rags to riches story, laced with a lot of satire, some melodrama and an act of crime. Balram serves his masters with utmost devoutness till an incident makes him feel let down and he then takes matters into his hand and sets off on to the path of wealth.And that is perhaps the lamest way of describing a masterly film replete with high-impact dialogues, metaphors and some stellar acting by the lead #AdarshGourav.
“The Indian entrepreneur must be a combination of opposites - straight and crooked, mocking and believing, sly and sincere” says Balram the Bangalore based entrepreneur to the then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao who is visiting India. Starting from here, the film employs a first person narration by Balram himself to tell his story. He was born in Lakshmangarh, a backward village which could be just about any village in the country. His fondness for his school and learning is cut short rudely when his father succumbs to tuberculosis. His granny (#KamleshGil) manages the household and has his future in a vice-like grip. The villagers are held to ransom by the local landlord, simply called The Stork (#MaheshManjrekar) and his enforcer, The Mongoose (#VijayMaurya). There is also the politician in the mix, The Great Socialist (played by #SwaroopSampat with elan). One fine day marks the entry of The Stork’s son Ashok (#RajkummarRao) and his wife Pinky (#PriyankaChopraJonas) freshly arrived from the US with their own interpretation of social equality. Balram is besotted and makes it his life mission to serve his Ashok Sir.
Metaphors run deep in #TheWhiteTiger. As Balram moves to Lutyens Delhi and works as the second driver in the household, the other drivers call him Dehati chooha. He discovers that all it takes is the dengue mosquito to kill the drivers. The jungle already has the stork and the mongoose. Balram is yet another cog in the wheel stuck inside the rooster coop. And it takes a one-in-a-generation White Tiger to escape from the coop. And that is the White Tiger, the self-made man. The driving instructor for Balram sets this jungle metaphor in context “The road is a jungle. A good driver must roar to get ahead on it “
An interesting debate is book versus the film. Over the years, the winner has always been the book till I saw #MiraNair’s #TheNamesake. But that’s another story. For now, lets just say that #TheWhiteTiger will remain the Umpire’s call. Director #RaminBahrami’s ability to ground the cruel reality of morally bankrupt economic and political systems in heart-breaking human stories is fantastic. Director of Photography #PaoloCarnera does a great supporting act in the process. The film has a visceral texture to it and makes you feel uncomfortable. In a surreal sequence, Balram sits down in front of a man defecating in public and laughs uncontrollably. The laurels of the film go to the lead, #AdarshGaurav who is an actor, singer and song-writer. His wonderfully expressive eyes and body language set up a sensational performance which leaves you awe-struck. In the final scene, Balram breaks the fourth wall as he looks at the camera with rage-filled eyes and tells us how he broke the coop.
The film is brutal, funny and disturbing in parts. The angst that Balram feels is summed up in his dialogue “Do we loathe our masters behind a facade of love, or do we love them behind a facade of loathing?”. That scene where Balram is forced to sign the papers taking responsibility for his masters’ actions is done brilliantly. With the oily mongoose egging him on, Balram smiles wistfully even as tears well up in his eyes.
#PriyankaChopraJonas puts in a competent performance as Pinky. She is the conscience keeper in the film and is perfectly cast. #RajkummarRao puts in an uncharacteristically under-whelming performance. #KamleshGill is superb as the granny.
#TheWhiteTiger is an exceptional deep dive into the complex stratification of India’s social divide. In many ways, Balram’s act of physical violence is akin to what the Kim family did in #Parasite. The film is definitely a must watch. The characters could have been fleshed out a little more and in some sequences, the narrative does come on too heavy but at the end, it remains a wonderful narration of a socially relevant trope.
