72 newyork| february1–14, 2021
raminbahraniisamongthemost Americanofdirectors—anartistwho
hasexploredtheagony,irony, andtragicomicpretzellogicofthat thingweso
guilelesslycalltheAmericanDream—soit may feelodd,at first,toseehisnameon
Netflix’sadaptationofTheWhiteTiger,AravindAdiga’s ManBookerPrize–winning
2008 bildungsromanabouta lowlydriver’s ambitious,grislyrisetosuccessinrapidly
changingIndiaaroundtheturnofthe21st century. Thebook,a globalbest sellerthat
launcheda thousandthinkpiecesinitsday, isn’t just aboutoneman’s journey. It’sa
totalizing,occasionallytongue-in-cheekmeditationonthefracturednatureofIndian
society, a dense,maximalist page-turner.Bahrani,however,tendstoworkina more
minorkey:His narrativesareoftenspare,findingdramaandpoetryinglances,ges-
tures,andsubtlejuxtapositionsthat reveala broadervisionofthe
world.(His firsttwofeatures,ManPushCartandChopShop,are
gettingCriterioneditionsthismonth.)
Theconnectionmakesa bitmoresenseif oneknowsthat Adiga
actuallydedicatedhisnoveltoBahrani;theIndianauthorandthe
Ir anianAmericanfilmmaker,it turnsout,havebeenclosefriends
sincecollege. Butit’s stillanoddfit,andperhapsBahraniknowsit.He
movies / pop / books
opensTheWhiteTigerinuncharacteristic
fashionwitha burst ofpopmusicanda
rapidlycutframingsequenceintroducing
ustoourprotagonistandnarrator,Balram
(AdarshGourav),a driverwho,just forthis
night,hasbeendresseduplike a maharaja
byhiswealthy boss,Ashok(Rajkummar
Rao),andhiswife,Pinky (PriyankaCho-
praJonas,whoalsoexecutive-produced),
asthey drunkenlycareerdowna darkened
highway. There’sevena variationonone
ofthoseoverusedsuddenfreeze-frame
breaks that promptsthenarratortojump
back in time; Balramdoesn’t actuallysay,
“Y ou might bewonderingwhat I’mdoing
here,” but he mayaswell.
For its first hourorso,TheWhiteTiger
is a dizzying swirlofnarrativeandstyle—
Bahrani directsenergetically,deftlyslic-
ing through Balram’searlyyears—but
the stylizationcanfeela bitborrowed,
as it often reliesonfamiliarstorytelling
devices. Maybethat’sstrangelyappropri-
ate for a moviewhoseprotagonistis living
a borrowed life:Thestoryis framedasthe
Adarsh Gourav
PHOTOGRAPH: TEJINDER SINGH KHAMKHA/NETFLIX © 2021
The CULTURE PAGES
CRITICS
Bilge Ebiri on The White Tiger ... Craig Jenkins on Ozuna and Anuel AA ...
E. Alex Jung on Brontez Purnell.
THEWHITETIGER
DIRECTEDBY
RAMINBAHRANI.
NETFLIX.R.
MOVIES / BILGE EBIRI
Living the Scheme
Born into poverty, a young man claws
his way into the gilded class.