New York Magazine - USA (2021-02-01)

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.