Whew.
Yes.
This.
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From the jump, I knew this was gonna be a thrill.
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Soundtrack. ☑️
Cinematography. ☑️
Score. ☑️
Directing. ☑️
Writing. ☑️
Adarsh Gourav!!! ☑️☑️☑️
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What a compelling narrative! I wish I had watched it sooner.
Let’s get it:
So, Adarsh Gourav plays Balram, a driver who works his way out of poverty and becomes a successful entrepreneur in India. The narrative tracks the snags he encounters as a lower-caste worker who overcomes ethically-problematic obstacles in hopes of a better life.
It’s lit. 🔥🔥
The film’s narrative is specific and is sprinkled with beautiful quote-ables about the perceptions of success when you begin from a less affluent position (could be perceived as maneuvering like a criminal), compared to folks maneuvering in a similar fashion but beginning from a position of affluence (…like a politician).
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Cinematography.
Bruv, I loved how the director of photography (Paolo Carnera) explored symmetrical framing because it balanced the narrative’s symmetry, specifically Balram’s fainting episodes, and the intro- and re-introduction of the white tiger.
And stylistically, the shots were just so damn beautiful. I could just sense all the textures of the scenes—they felt immersive and were plentiful.
Just gorge! 😍
(Source: IMDb)
Signing the confession.
The scenes centered on the aftermath of Balram signing the confession were simply incredible. Like, specifically the blocking, choreography, direction, cinematography, acting—all perfect. A ball was in my throat and my heart sank simultaneously, figuratively.
After he leaves the room and exits the apartment building, there’s a sequence of a winding camera motion that perfectly captured an anxiety-stricken, sweaty, fainting feeling I’ve definitely experienced. 😰😰
That camera manipulation + score + acting could’ve gone totally amiss and brought the tone to a screeching halt. But, it did not—just the opposite, in fact. The tone heightened. 👏🏾 🧐
The climax.
The camera physically moves across Ashok’s (Rajkummar Rao) shoulders facing Balram while they ate at a local diner. This scene emphasized Ashok’s devastation after his wife Pinky (Priyanka Chopra) fled India back to the U.S. with Balram’s assistance. Playing on Ashok’s weakened state, Balram seemed to ingratiate himself with his “master,” attempting (and later failing) to align himself with a new caste. It was beautifully shot.
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The touch points of personal significance.
I loved the characters. I appreciated the diversity in the temperaments of Ashok’s family members. I also got a sense of the terms of endearment used to address family, colleagues, close friends, and associates. The minutiae mattered, and I peeped it. 👏🏾 🧐
“The White Tiger” is adapted from a novel, and the screenplay felt like it kept sucking me in and wanted me to believe it would be predictable, but it kept subverting expectations. It took risks, but the payoff was great and well worth the wait. This film is also a good example of how to use the main character to narrate their own story while keeping measured pace, but not relying on the element as a narrative crutch.
Loved the street scenes. All the scenes at the shops in Delhi, and the busy, non-laned paths around other parts of the country were so ill. 🔥🔥🔥 All I kept thinking was “I wanna be where they are 🥺🥺,” and “I want food too.”
It was interesting to see the stark contrasts between affluence and poverty. Ashok had mentioned to Pinky the idea of bringing folks like Balram into the middle class, but we never really got to see what middle-class living looked like.
Putting on the public health hat 🎩 for a sec—I really enjoyed the Flinestones-vitamin moment of explaining the deadliness of mosquito-borne diseases. 🤓🤓 Homie dropped gems and gave Balram real arboviral infectious disease prevention methods. 👏🏾 👏🏾 👏🏾
During the introduction of the film, Balram explained how, in 2007, his father had traveled villages away to access care for severe tuberculosis, a curable bacterial infection that was one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. in the 1900s. That brief aside was a great snapshot into the country’s public health profile, asset distribution, and a bit of history.
I live for this shit. 😊😊
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In conclusion…more narratives like this, please.
