OSCARS 2021: The White Tiger (2021)

I've been ragging on this all month but, truly, Netflix's dominance of 2021's Oscar season is bordering on the weird. When I opened the list of nominations last month, while scanning through the names, when I saw a title I didn't recognized, I was unsurprising to see most of them were Netflix releases. Like “The White Tiger,” which scored a single nomination in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. Perhaps I should've been paying more attention. “The White Tiger” is written and directed by Ramin Bahrani, the filmmaker behind the critically acclaimed “Chop Shop.” It's also adopted from a best selling, praised novel by Aravind Adiga, which is probably why its writing was highlighted by the Academy. 

Balram Halwai, the owner of a successful taxi cab company in Delhi, writes a letter to Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. (Who wants to hear from “entrepreneur.”) He relates his story, of growing up in poverty as part of India's lower caste. Despite being offered a scholarship as a boy, he was forced to leave school and work at a young age. As a teenager, he convinces the rich landlord of the village – who rules with an iron fist – to hire him as a driver. He befriends the man's progressive son, Ashok, and his American-raised girlfriend. Balram sucks up to his masters but can't escape his status as a servant... Until an act of violence and his knowledge of government bribes offers him a way out. 

Much like last year's “Parasite,” “The White Tiger” is a story of class inequality. Also like the Best Picture winner, it is both culturally specific and universal. The film is a clear indictment of India's caste system. Balram describes it as either living in the dark or living in the light. The poor do not have clean water, in-door plumping, and little access to education. The rich talk about ways to expand their business opportunities. It's a far starker divide than here in America – Balram is regularly beaten and belittled by his employer – but you recognize a lot. The way he's forced to be faithful to his masters, least his family be harmed, and the way he's forced to be faithful to his family, funneling money to him, are just more extreme versions of the same traps that keep the working class poor over here. 

“The White Tiger” tells a pretty grave story. One of its biggest plot points involve a child being run down in the street. Violence and crime are only so far away at any moment. Yet the film maintains a careful balancing act. Throughout the story, Balram pretends to be utterly loyal to Ashok and his family, while inwardly plotting his own scheme. There's often a light humor to this, like when he convinces Ashok and his girlfriend that every place they pass in his village is a holy sight. Yet Balram has an ugly side too. He gets a rival worker fired, by revealing his secret – he's Muslim – to his employees. His interior monologue reveals his own prejudice, such as the mean-spirited thoughts he has about a co-worker with vitiligo. You still find yourself rooting for him though, due to the truly inhumane conditions he has to put up with and the film's very careful tonal balancing act.

Another thing that keeps “The White Tiger” grounded is its lead performance. Adarsh Gourav plays Balram and it's a skillful double performance. Gourav plays Balram, the faithful servant, who responds that he only wants to serve when asked what he wants out of life. At the same time, he has to suggest Balram's real ambitions and plans. A moment that truly impresses is when Balram essentially signs a confession, saying he's responsible for a crime his masters committed. On the surface, he remains obedient while inwardly suggesting the conflict Adarsh surely feels in that moment. 

“The White Tiger's” final moments are suitably ironic, with even the protagonist being well aware of the fate he's set up for himself. Yet, questionable as Balram's rise to riches doubtlessly is, he's ultimately sort of right. There's a moment where the character who has been the kindest and most sympathetic to him still treats him like he isn't human, treating him like a dog mindlessly watching an intimate moment. I guess the moral is pretty evident: If you hope to survive in a capitalistic society, you have to become a monster. “The White Tiger” is a funny and beautifully assembled film about this idea. [8/10]