THE WHITE TIGER Film adaptation is unable to reach heights of the novel

INDIAN author Aravind Adiga’s 2008 debut novel The White Tiger won the 40th Man Booker Prize and has now been adapted into this newly premiered Netflix film.

We meet a successful business entrepreneur with a dark past and through flashback find out his story, where he goes from menial labour in a dirt-poor village to becoming the dedicated driver for a wealthy family. He dreams of a better life and works hard, but is mistreated by his heartless employers and then is badly let down by the ones he trusted most. This leads him down a dark path, which will change his life forever.

Although this story is a social commentary on class divide and the forgotten masses who are put in cages by their wealthy masters, the film attempts to add another dramatic layer to the story of an impoverished individual smiling through hard times and trying to make a path in an unforgiving world. It does so with mixed results because

Starring: Adarsh Gourav, Rajkummar Rao, Priyanka Chopra Jonas Director: Ramin Bahrani

on one side Adarsh Gourav is superb and on the other, there are missed opportunities.

Gourav holds the Hindi and English language film together with an outstanding performance that captures the pain hidden behind a seemingly happy demeanour. Rajkummar adds weight with his performance as his employer.

A better director than Ramin Bahrani, who also wrote the screenplay, could have added more energy into this multi-layered story and drawn-out better performances from other cast members, including Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

Although engaging, The White Tiger doesn’t roar as loudly as it perhaps should have and is unable to meet up to the very high bar set by the globally acclaimed novel, which captured a moment in time and told an important story.

Watch this film for the fascinating journey of the engaging protagonist, but don’t expect to see the next Lion or Slumdog Millionaire.