LONDON: There’s a moment in “The White Tiger” when lead character Balram Halwai is explaining how hard it is to break free from the cycle of perpetual servitude that pervades India’s lower-class society – particularly when the upper classes have little interest in altering the status quo. In a knowing nod to the feel-good ending of 2008’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” Balram (played with gusto by Adarsh Gourav) points out that those who want to escape that cycle have to do so off their own backs – because there’s no gameshow prize offering a shortcut out of poverty.
It’s the first glimpse of the darker tone and cynical ambition that characterizes Balram’s escape from the system he refers to as the rooster coop – and a suggestion that director Ramin Bahrani’s “The White Tiger” might not end with an uplifting musical number where the good guys ride off into the sunset.
“The White Tiger” is directed by Ramin Bahrani. (Supplied)
Growing up in an impoverished village, all Balram wants is to find a job that will enable him to serve. As an adult, he finagles his way into the good graces of a powerful local landlord’s family, eventually blackmailing his rivals and winding up as the driver for the landlord’s son Ashok, and his New York-raised wife, Pinky. The couple (played by Rajkummar Rao and Priyanka Chopra Jonas) show Balram kindness, and he hangs on their every word and desire – he wants to serve, while Pinky wants Balram to dream bigger. When tragedy strikes, Ashok and his family look set to happily let Balram take the fall in order to maintain their status, and that betrayal hits the young driver hard. No longer willing to serve at the pleasure of his masters, Balram becomes cruelly aware of the system that’s rigged against him, and begins to contemplate what he’s willing to do to break free.
Rao and Chopra Jonas are engaging to watch, but “The White Tiger” is Gourav’s movie. The young Indian actor charts an utterly riveting journey from wide-eyed optimism to betrayed realization. Quite simply, it is impossible to look away. “The White Tiger” is smart, witty and gorgeous to look at – and pulls no punches in its damning indictment of injustice.
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