The White Tiger Review: A Fantastic and a Disturbing Portrayal of Certain Realities!

Adapted from Aravind Adiga’s 2008 novel of the same name, The White Tiger, directed by Ramin Bahrani, stars Adarsh Gourav in the primary role with Rajkummar Rao and Priyanka Chopra Jonas as the supporting cast.

Set in the mid and late 2000s, the storyline of The White Tiger explores the life of Balram, a sweetmaker from a small village in North India, who aspires to make it big in life and moves to a city and joins a driver for one of his landlords. Eventually, his uncomplicated life takes a turn when the differences between the rich and the poor, the treatment between the higher caste and the lower caste become significant attributes in his everyday life.

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One of the more impressive attributes of The White Tiger is that Ramin Bahrani succeeds in remarkably narrating the storyline of the movie and at the same time focusing and highlighting his primary character, Balram, and his journey from rags to riches. On the other hand, the film focuses on a wide variety of topics that are prevalent in modern-day India. From the immense differences between the rich and the poor to the bad treatment of lower caste individuals and the prehistoric mindset of wealthy people not allowing men and women from minimal background to succeed were discussed throughout the film.

Complementing the issues it discusses, about the society rural Indians live in, The White Tiger takes a hardheaded approach and does not shy away to display the sinister side of the world’s biggest democracy. The film doesn’t sugarcoat its characters, the visuals, and the dire state of a ton of people and shows the exact representation of how it is, even to date.

And with a proper set-up of the world the movie takes place in, we, as an audience member, get a real sense of the lead protagonist and cheer for his character and further success. As a result, the protagonist had steady progress throughout the runtime, from an innocent and an intellectual kid to a loyal servant and a cunning survivor.

Besides the lead character, Balram, and his storyline, the other half of the White Tiger suffers inside and out. Particularly, the supporting actors and their narratives are not enthralling enough for me to sit through and watch without checking my phone. A few scenes, in general, did not make much sense or felt unnecessary to include in the final cut, and by doing so, the 125-minute runtime did feel like a stretch halfway through.

Furthermore, I came in fresh to watch this film, so I couldn’t draw any comparisons from the book and say that it can improve in certain departments, and so on. Also, being an American film, a vast amount of dialogues are in English, which might disturb your experience a little, especially with a New Delhi and a North Indian setting.

The performances were exceptional from start to finish. Adarsh Gourav, the main protagonist of the film, excels and makes his character feel as relatable as possible. His ability to emote in a variety of scenes, whether it’s high-intense drama or subtle innocence, made him stand-out although he shared the screen opposite two of the powerhouse performers in the game. And that brings me to Rajkummar Rao and Priyanka Chopra, who are fantastic in their minimal-yet-significant roles, and did not take away the spotlight from Adarsh.

Paolo Carnera was able to capture the real feel of North India and New Delhi through his lens, and the haunting visuals enhanced the narrative and were able to meet the requirements the director is going for. But, if I can nitpick for a moment here, for a movie set between 2005 and 2010, I spotted a TATA Tiago car (which launched in 2016), and a few locations in New Delhi that are not a thing until the recent past. I understand that you cannot sit and perfect every detail, but these mistakes can easily be avoided.

Overall, The White Tiger impresses in regards to narrating the complex journey of its lead star and delivering the right amount of emotion needed for its heavy storyline. The visuals are haunting, the performances were exceptional, and Ramin Bahrani did a fantastic job in showcasing certain realities in the most rigid way possible. However, the film does flow properly, and a few unnecessary scenes might bore you out from time to time. Watch ‘The White Tiger’ on Netflix here.

Rating – 3/5 | Grade – B

Images via Netflix India