The White Tiger Review: A Messy But Fierce And Stylish Look At Class Divide In India
- naterichard98
- Feb 27, 2021
- 2 min read
DIRECTED BY: RAMIN BAHRANI
STARRING: ADARSH GOURAV, PRIYANKA CHOPRA-JONAS, & RAJKUMMAR RAO
RATED R FOR LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL MATERIAL
LENGTH: 125 MINUTES
Movies focusing on class-divide seem to be all the rage in the past two years. In 2019, films from the likes of the Oscar-winning Parasite and Joker as well as Jorden Peele's Us dominated audience conversations and dared viewers to examine their own self-wealth. Director Ramin Bahrani is no stranger to films that focus on such topics with his breakout film 99 Homes covering the Great Recession. So it should be no surprise that his latest directorial effort follows suit of those aforementioned films along with sprinkling in dashes of Slumdog Millionaire.
The White Tiger follows Balram (Adarsh Gourav), a gifted young man who is told he is the 'white tiger' a prodigy who is once in a generation. Despite his brilliance, his family's poverty prevents him from pursuing his dreams. As he gets older, Balram decides to take matters into his own hands and attempts to get to the top his way. He is soon hired to be a servant by a wealthy couple Pinky and Ashok (Priyanka Chopra-Jonas and Rajkummar Rao), from there everything Balram thought he knew about wealth changes drastically.
Where The White Tiger excels most is with Bahrani's sense of style. In the hands of another director, the film could have come across as bland, but thanks to Bahrani's sensibilities the film proves itself to be quite the entertaining ride throughout. Unfortunately, for as entertaining as the film is the film's pacing and identity crisis don't quite match the film's direction. The film feels confused on whether or not it wants to tell it's story in a gritty fashion or in a way that's more easy-going and accessible to it's potential audience. The pacing is as if the film is stuck in a loop between boundless energy and something a bit more sluggish. While the story is indeed captivating, the film's technical misfortunes almost bog down the entire thing.
Gourav shines in the role of Balram, his commitment to this complicated character is very clear. His role was clearly not an easy one to play, but despite not having many acting credits, he performs like a true thespian. Gourav is clearly an actor to watch out for. Chopra-Jonas and Rao also turn in some solid work; while Chopra-Jonas has been a superstar in Bollywood for years, her career in Hollywood is still fairly young and her performance as Pinky may just be her juiciest Hollywood role to date.
The White Tiger may not be the most memorable film of the year nor is it a perfect film, but it's a solid effort from Bahrani and one that is certainly worth a look.
3/5 Stars
The White Tiger is now streaming on Netflix.
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