Movie scenes where

happy people sing behind the wheel and cast warm glances at their fellow passengers always end in some form of misfortune.

So also in the introduction of The white tiger where the cheerful touch frontal clashes with reality.


Even if the crash is expected, it is a suggestive scene that throws us into the action.

This is a witty and death-defying tale about a poor young man named Balram, who has an almost Machiavellian sense of intrigue.

He manages to become a driver for the area's richest family and maneuvers slowly but surely up to the top.

The best Indian in the world, if you ask him.

A mix of Mr Ripley and Mowgli if you ask me.

Balram's narrator's voice

is constantly present, which is a bit annoying in the long run, but at the same time it is necessary, as a guide through a tangled and crowded existence.


The tempo is high, sometimes on the verge of cheeky.

Gives connotations of Slumdog Millionaire - at least in the first hour but then The white tiger slips away on its own path that slowly but surely takes us away from the conventional and expected.

In the middle of the flow of words and events, another, sharp image of society emerges: a class and caste system, marinated in a spicy religion, which keeps the mass on the carpet.

Yes, the castes have been

officially abolished, but they still largely control the lives of the people, says Balram, and adds (with a possible wink to Raskolnikov): Basically, however, there are only two kinds of Indians, the one with big and the one with small stomach.



If you are born wealthy, you can choose to be good, but it is a favor that the poor do not have, says Balram.

If you are born to serve, in an environment that constantly tells you that you are less worthy than the rich, it is extremely difficult, in principle, impossible to change your destiny.

At least if you stick to the rules of the game that the power has decided.

Behind that

flattering smile, imposed from birth on the serving class, an ocean of depressed feelings of injustice is bubbling.


The same conscious discrepancy prevails between the film's often cheeky tone and its stubborn content.

Also with a hero who is refreshingly crass and unethical.

When needed.

The story, which is based on Aravind Adiga's Booker Prize winner, congenially follows Balram's mental journey, from the initial naivete to a darker insight into the state of affairs, and takes us on the same trip.

The White Tiger is

a brutal comedy, and at the same time a revolutionary film that stands by its word and follows its own highly realistic logic, right down to the tile.

And it really hurts.

Premiere on Netflix 22/1