Review | Netflix movie review: The White Tiger – Priyanka Chopra and newcomer Adarsh Gourav in enthralling adaptation of Man Booker Prize winner
- Director Ramin Bahrani skewers India’s class system, gender inequality, and systemic corruption in this literary adaptation about a poor villager’s rise
- Newcomer Adarsh Gourav excels as the villager, Balram, who blags a job as driver to the village landlord’s US-educated son and his wife, played by Chopra
3.5/5 stars
In The White Tiger, an impoverished urchin from a low-caste village profits from India’s rapidly evolving economy to reinvent himself as a slick, savvy urban entrepreneur.
In his first lead role, Adarsh Gourav proves a magnetic screen presence as Balram, dancing a fine line between diligent servant and scheming opportunist. Determined to escape his dead-end village and the controlling clutches of an overbearing grandmother, Balram blags his way into the position of personal driver to Ashok (Rajkummar Rao, Newton), the American-educated younger son of the village’s corrupt landlord.
Their respectful treatment of Balram goes against the hierarchical practices of India’s caste system, as well as Balram’s own sense of unbending duty. It doesn’t take long, however, for Balram to learn how to exploit his position, while Ashok reverts to a more traditional way of thinking.
