Ramin Bahrani’s The White Tiger was nominated under the ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ category in the 93rd Oscars. Bahrani adapted Aravind Adiga’s book of the same name. The movie is contesting against the likes of Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland and Florian Zeller’s The Father. The movie was also nominated under the same category for BAFTA 2021.
In an joint interview with Vulture, Aravind Adiga and Ramin Bahrani talked about the book ‘The White Tiger’ and the journey towards making it into a film. Bahrani comments that the way Adiga wrote the book is what makes it special, “That was one of the joys of making The White Tiger. He wrote it in such a playful, satirical way despite the intense themes. I didn’t know how to film the second half where Balram becomes unhinged.”
Bahrani talked about Adarsh Gourav taking initiative in scenes, “ He was dressed like a driver so we just got rid of the crew...He pulled the whole street into the scene with him.”
In an article in the Los Angeles Times, Bahrani revealed that he went to parking garages to talk to drivers and servants and ‘spent hours listening to their stories’. “ I asked them if they saw a path to a better life. One of the older drivers looked up from his newspaper and said, ‘politics.’ They all laughed, until a young man looked up from his phone and muttered, ‘crime,’” he added.
One of the actor’s in the film, Rajkummar Rao, spoke to Deadline about working with Bahrani and the atmosphere on set, “Whenever there was a chance of improvising or adding fun elements, Ramin would encourage us to do it. It also helped that all three of us understood our culture’s humour.”
Priyanka Chopra, who played Pinky in the film, and also served as the Executive Producer, said that film’s commentary reflects issues prevalent all across the world, ‘We may look at this story as happening far from the West but it is happening everywhere… it’s a movie that requires plenty of self-examination.”
After the success of The White Tiger, Bahrani and Adiga will collaborate once again to adapt Adiga’s book Amnesty.
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