The White Tiger

Capitalism, Cars, and Caste

4/5

Spoilers

According to a 'Geeky Facts About the Oscars' article on the BBC News website, for the previous 20 years there has been a film nominated for a screenplay Oscar and nothing else each year. The screenplay Academy Awards, Original or Adapted, form part of the holy quinrality (alongside Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress) which any film hopes to win all five of. Thus, a film that has reached the highs of one of the awards and none of the others is worth a intrigued watch.

This year's entrant is Netflix's The White Tiger, a film I believed I knew nothing about as I hit play. It would turn out, during a rather minor scene part the way through the film, that I had seen supporting actress (well, maybe lead, but I would say role size would be more supporting - I may have been thinking about the Oscars too much of late) Priyanka Chopra-Jonas interviewed on Stephen Colbert's The Late Show some months ago. They had discussed the film and played this clip. Apparently the prospect of the movie had little impact on my being as I subsequently blanked its existence from my mind.

Fortunately, its nomination brought it back to my attention and I am incredibly glad it did. This was a most enjoyable and thoughtful film. It was notably a film about India made by and starring Indians. Too often a film about a non-Western country relies on a passing American to make the plot acceptable to a Western audience, or so accepted wisdom suggests. This film, with only Chopra-Jonas' connection to Western audiences through Quantico and her husband Nick, blasts that notion out of the water.

The core of the film evaluates India at a crossroads in its destiny. It sets up the concept that the 'white world' is diminishing and that the dominance of "brown and yellow people", to quote the film itself, is growing. Adarsh Gourav, as protagonist Balram, sees the outsourcing of big companies in Bangalore as a sign of India's growing prevalence. A visit by a Chinese dignitary presents further promises of financial growth.

As Balram recounts his 'rags to riches' tale, we are shown the fading side of India in Delhi, the side mired in the Caste system. Balram is of a lower caste and has to sweet talk his way into a job driving for the family that own his village. They, wealthy and arrogant, see no human value in the lower castes save for work or rent. The script makes the point that, although there are technically many castes, there are two that matter: whether you are upper or lower.

Thrown into this mix is Balram's employer's wife, Chopra-Jonas. She has wed the master against caste: she is a Christian, he is a Hindu. His family disapprove. Raised in America, her distaste for this traditional social order almost helps to spur Balram forward, alongside his growing hatred for his domineering family, and the distaste he feels from being emotionally manipulated by everyone.

The question of India's future, as the film shows, lies effectively in whether one's background is what allows one to be successful or not. Balram certainly tells his story to prove not, the entrepreneurial story of how he stole and murdered to reach financial freedom and status. Upon reaching it, he shows a future more interested in Capitalist success than caring what family someone was born into. Parallels are found between his former masters and himself (the aforementioned stealing and murder, alongside healthy doses of self-centredness and lying) showing that one's position in society really doesn't mean much in this new world: you can bribe your way to power whether you are low or high born.

Alongside the more philosophical points on India's destiny, there was also a star performance in this movie. Gourav, an actor with limited credits, makes his debut in a lead role. It is a complex role with a great deal of growth and depth that Gourav gets spot on. He is captivating, believable at all points on the journey, and almost charming. It is a shame he did not receive an Academy nomination to match his BAFTA and Independent Spirit Award nods. A lot of the film's weight is carried on his initially compliant shoulders.

The only drawback for me came from the framing device. It begins with a massive cliché: a raucous car journey, a child steps in front of the vehicle, the shot freezes, the narrator cuts in with "But let's see how I got to this point." The point is pivotal to Balram's journey but the cliché made me sigh immediately, a rare let down in a film with so few clichés.

Aside from this, the film is very good and definitely worth at least one more nomination that it has received.

The White Tiger

Director: Ramin Bahrani

Screenplay: Ramin Bahrani based on The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Score: Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans

Starring: Adarsh Gourav, Rajkummar Rao, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Mahesh Manjrekar, & Vijay Maurya

Currently available on Netflix