The White Tiger (2021 film)
The White Tiger | |
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Directed by | Ramin Bahrani |
Screenplay by | Ramin Bahrani |
Based on | The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Paolo Carnera |
Edited by |
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Music by |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | Netflix |
Release dates |
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Running time | 125 minutes |
Countries |
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Languages |
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The White Tiger is a 2021 Indian drama film written and directed by Ramin Bahrani. The film stars Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Rajkummar Rao. The film was produced by Mukul Deora and Ramin Bahrani, and executive produced by Chopra Jonas, Prem Akkaraju, and Ava DuVernay.[1][2][3] An adaptation of Aravind Adiga's 2008 novel of the same name, the story is about Balram, who comes from a poor Indian village and uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty.
Adiga published his book and decided to adapt it into a film in late 2010, with the rights being sold to producer Mukul Deora. Bahrani was chosen to helm the adaptation, and was eager to do so, having read early drafts of the novel even before it was published.[4] Filmed extensively across Delhi in October to December 2019, The White Tiger premiered at Las Vegas on 6 January 2021,[5] and was screened at limited movie theatres in the United States on 13 January.[5] It was released globally through the streaming platform Netflix on 22 January 2021.[6] The White Tiger received positive reviews from critics who praised its direction, screenplay, cinematography and the performances by the cast. At the 93rd Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Plot[edit]
In 2010, entrepreneur Balram Halwai emails Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, requesting a meeting, and relating his life story. He states his belief that the Indian underclass is trapped in a perpetual state of servitude, like chickens in a chicken coop.
As a young boy in Laxmangarh, Balram is offered a scholarship to a school in Delhi because of his advanced academics. He is told that he is a "white tiger," someone born only once in a century. However, when his father is unable to pay off village landlord 'the Stork', Balram is forced by his grandmother to work in the village's tea stall, and he never returns to school. Balram's father dies from tuberculosis, with no doctor to treat him.
As a young man, Balram aspires to become a chauffeur for the Stork's son Ashok, who has returned from the United States with his Jackson Heights-raised wife Pinky. Balram has his grandmother sponsor his driving lessons, with the promise of sharing his chauffeur salary. Balram is hired as the Stork family's second driver, but is also given menial tasks to complete and is otherwise mistreated. Balram is kept loyal by the threat of him and his entire family being murdered if he were to conduct a betrayal.
Ashok and Pinky make plans to move to Delhi, where Ashok will bribe Indian politicians so that his family would avoid paying tax money. Balram, wanting to drive for them in Delhi, exposes the secret of the family's primary driver: he is a Muslim. After the primary driver is fired (due to the family's stereotypical prejudice against Muslims), Balram joins the couple in Delhi. In contrast to other members of their family, Ashok and Pinky generally treat Balram with respect and eventually become closer to him, though they still view him as a servant.
In Delhi, on Pinky's birthday, she and Ashok get drunk and force Balram to let Pinky drive, which results in her accidentally hitting and killing a child. The Stork family coerces Balram into signing a confession endorsed by his grandmother. Ultimately, nothing comes of it, but Balram is left shaken, and for the first time, is fully aware of how disposable he is to his employers.
Pinky leaves Ashok to return to New York, leaving Balram to emotionally support him. Balram realizes that loyal service to Ashok was no guarantee of a comfortable life once his services were no longer needed. Balram begins to defraud Ashok with fake invoices, while making money on the side by selling the car's petrol and using the car as an unlicensed taxi.
Balram encounters a series of setbacks. He angers the Stork family when he donates change to a beggar. Balram's grandmother unexpectedly sends one of his younger nephews to live with him in order to learn how to become a driver. Balram also learns that his grandmother is following through with her plans to get him married against his wishes. Meanwhile, Ashok prepares to pay a particularly large bribe, while also arranging to imminently replace Balram with a new driver.
Balram has an epiphany on how to escape servitude as the "white tiger". To obtain the bribe money, Balram murders Ashok with a broken whiskey bottle and flees the city with his nephew and the money. An arrest warrant is put out for Balram, but he evades capture.
Balram takes his nephew with him to Bangalore, then a bubble for large IT companies. He uses a portion of the stolen cash to bribe the police to eliminate taxi service providers for a lack of licenses. Balram starts his own taxi company, thus becoming wealthy himself. He treats his drivers as employees and not as servants. He takes personal and financial responsibility for any incidents caused by them, even employing a sibling of a child killed in an accident caused by a company driver. He sponsors his nephew's education, while acknowledging that his remaining family back home may have been killed by the Stork's men in retribution.
Happy to escape servitude, Balram reveals at the end of the film that he changed his name to Ashok Sharma.
Cast[edit]
- Adarsh Gourav as Balram Halwai / "Ashok Sharma"
- Rajkummar Rao as Ashok Shah, Balram's master
- Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Pinky Shah, Ashok's wife
- Mahesh Manjrekar as The Stork, Ashok's father
- Vijay Maurya as Mukesh "The Mongoose" Shah, Ashok's older brother
- Kamlesh Gill as Granny Kusum, Balram's grandmother
- Swaroop Sampat as the Great Socialist
- Tawhid Rike Zaman as Balram's friend
- Vedant Sinha as Dharam, Balram's nephew
- Nalneesh Neel as Vitiligo Man
Production[edit]
Origin[edit]
Producer Mukul Deora bought the rights for the adaptation of Indian writer Aravind Adiga's 2008 novel The White Tiger, which is about "an extraordinary journey of a self-made man from a tea-shop worker in a village to a successful entrepreneur in a big city".[4] Deora chose director Ramin Bahrani, who also happened to be Adiga's college-friend, to helm the film. Bahrani had read the rough drafts of the novel years before it was published, with Deora stating "He's very dedicated to adapt it into a film".[4] Bahrani added "It's an epic story that required a lot of financing and money and resources to get it made in India, that wasn't so easy when the novel came out".[4] He initially sold the distribution rights to Netflix, as Bahrani stated that "it had an appetite for global stories, for voices that are not typically represented behind a camera or in front of the camera".[4]
When Priyanka Chopra Jonas scrolled through Twitter, she saw a headline that a film adaptation of the novel was in the works. She called her agent about the film to offer her collaboration.[4] Thus, Chopra served as one of the executive producers of the film, under her banner Purple Pebble Pictures, alongside Prem Akkaraju, Ava DuVernay and Ken Kamins.[7][8]
Writing[edit]
While Bahrani added and deleted a few sequences and adapted the character for the screen, the story stays largely faithful to the novel. He stated: "The hardest part was cutting things out, since I love the book so much. But when I put all of it in the script, it came to 200 pages! Aravind gave me a wealth of gold and cutting it is just not easy.”[9] Initially, he considered updating the story (set in 2005) to a more recent setting, before abandoning the idea, as it is a period film. In the making of the script Baharani stated "One of the biggest changes today is that thing in your hand, the supercomputer. In today's world, Balram wouldn't be writing emails, he'd probably be doing video or Instagram. This is only the second time in my life that I've adapted a book and I wanted to stick to it."[9]
Casting[edit]
Bahrani turned down some established stars for the part of Balram: “I had an opportunity to talk with a lot of actors, stars that you might know, Bollywood stars who are all incredible. But at a certain point, while I was in India, I felt that the lead actor should be from India and preferably unknown. I just felt it matched the character and the story of an underdog."[10] Rajkummar Rao was also selected to play a prominent role in the film, along with Priyanka Chopra Jonas, despite serving as the co-producer.[4] Before filming, Bahrani spent months in India, riding local buses, visiting the places Adiga had written about, and meeting scores of people, before eventually meeting Adarsh Gourav.[9] Gourav prepared for his role by living anonymously in a remote village in Jharkhand and working for 12 hours a day, washing plates.[9]
Filming[edit]
Both Rao and Jonas prepared for the sequences,[11] with the actors beginning the script reading session,[12] before the start of the shoot.[13] The principal shoot of the film began in October 2019,[14] with the cast and crew being present for the shoot, excluding Jonas, due to her involvement in the promotion of The Sky Is Pink (2019).[15] Jonas joined the sets of the film's shooting in Delhi, on 2 November 2019,[16] and while shooting for the series, she posted her picture on Instagram, with a caption stating that "it is too hard to shoot here",[17] citing the climatic conditions and air pollution prevailing in the city.[18] The White Tiger, was filmed mostly in Delhi, serving as the principal location.[19] The shooting of the film was wrapped on 15 December 2019.[20][21]
Soundtrack[edit]
The White Tiger[citation needed] | |
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Soundtrack album by | |
Released | 8 January 2021[22] |
Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
Length | 30:42 |
Language | Hindi |
Label |
The White Tiger's original score is composed by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians. Its soundtrack album features reused compilations of various songs from independent artists, which ranges from different timelines.[23][24] Two of the songs "Akh Lar Gayee" and "O Murari Re" , were used as montages (songs that drive along with the storyline). The film features a promotional song "Jungle Mantra", which describes the life of Balram's character (Adarsh Gourav). Performed by Divine, along with American rappers Vince Staples, Pusha T and Jawadista , the song was released on 15 January 2021.[25]
The score produced by Bensi and Jurrians, for the film, features Indian-inspired themes and sounds.[23] Rohan Naahar of Hindustan Times praised the soundtrack album stating "The film is fuelled by a punchy hip-hop soundtrack and a frenetic energy".[26]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
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1. | "Mundian To Bach Ke" | Rajinder Rai, Stu Phillips, Glen Larson | Panjabi MC, Stu Phillips | 3:59 |
2. | "Akh Lar Gayee" | Prempal Hans, Hardeep Sidhu, Devinder Singh | Surinderjit Singh | 3:27 |
3. | "Get It Poppin" | Joseph Cartegena, Andre Lyon, Scott Storch | Fat Joe | 3:26 |
4. | "Feel Good Inc." | Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett | Gorillaz | 3:43 |
5. | "O Murari Re" | Rohit K Sharma | Rohit K Sharma | 3:19 |
6. | "Teri Baaton Mein" | Raghav Mathur | Raghav Mathur | 4:08 |
7. | "Mundian To Bach Ke" (Remix) | Rajinder Rai, Stu Phillips, Glen Larson | Panjabi MC, Stu Phillips | 3:42 |
8. | "Jungle Mantra" | Karan Kanchan | Divine | 4:00 |
Total length: | 30:42 |
Release[edit]
A press show for The White Tiger was premiered at Las Vegas on 6 January 2021,[28] and was released in limited theaters in the United States on 13 January 2021.[29] It was then digitally released globally through Netflix on 22 January 2021.[30] Netflix reported that 27 million households watched the film over its first month, and appeared on the platform's Top 10 in 64 countries.[31]
A lawsuit was filed against the makers by producer John Hart, citing copyright infringement.[32] The producer stated that a literary auction agreement was executed between him and author of the book Aravind Adiga in March 2009 and he had to make it an Oscar worthy film to be released in Hollywood, which did not materialize. His plea was rejected by the Delhi High Court, as he did not have proof to approach the court less than 24 hours of its release.[33][34]
Reception[edit]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 164 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Well-acted and beautifully made, The White Tiger distills the strengths of its source material into a grimly compelling drama."[35] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[36]
Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal called the film "funny and ferocious" and described it as "a zestful epic blessed with rapier wit, casually dazzling dialogue, gorgeous cinematography and, at the center of it all, a sensational star turn by [...] Adarsh Gourav".[37]
Rating the film 3.5 stars out of 4, Michael Phillips of Chicago Tribune termed the film a "propulsive adaptation", writing "The cast brings an edge and a drive to the telling, while cinematographer Paolo Carrera captures both the real-life grit and the dreamy, aspirational glamour of Balram's unsentimental education."[38] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote
"An immersive plunge into the chasm separating the servant class from the rich in contemporary India, the drama observes corruption at the highest and lowest levels with its tale of innocence lost and tables turned. If there's simply too much novelistic incident stuffed into the overlong film's Dickensian sprawl, the three leads' magnetic performances and the surprising twists of the story keep you engrossed."[39]
The Times's Kevin Maher rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, noting the film as "a dizzy, woozy, taxi ride to the dark side" and praised Chopra Jonas' performance, calling her "impressive".[40]
Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost criticised the poor dialogue and “the erroneous assumption that caste has given way to class in modern India”, but appreciated the rewriting of Chopra Jonas’ character. She rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Pandering to the Western viewer while fearful of the Hindutva mob - that is about as tricky as a tightrope walk can get, especially when the filmmaker's own understanding of India is evidently limited.”[41]
Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair praised the acting and Bahrani's direction and screenplay, saying that the film brings the celebrated novel to vivid life.[42]
In his 4 out of 5 stars review, Robbie Collin of The Telegraph wrote "a punchy, propulsive watch, blown along by snappy editing and a hip-hop-driven soundtrack that stresses that there's still much fun to be had when hefty themes of inequality and geopolitics are being tackled."[43]
Bilge Ebiri of the New York magazine called the film "a Brutal, Powerful Tale of Ambition, Class, and Corruption" that "cuts across borders and continents, and [...] cuts into the soul as well".[44]
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 4 stars out of 5, describing as a "Balzac-worthy satire of submission and power" and wrote "Bahrani [adapts and] also directs with terrific storytelling energy."[45]
Clarisse Loughrey from The Independent opined that the film was a "dark but exhilarating satire of capitalism".[46] Peter Travers of ABC News praised the "throughout pitch perfect" acting and Bahrani's direction, writing "Ramin Bahrani keeps you on the edge of your seat."[47]
Owen Gleiberman of Variety opined that the film is "an ironic study of the psychology of servitude", praising the performances by Chopra Jonas' and Gourav whom he called "marvelous".[48]
David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "B", calling it a "darkly comic thriller" and a "brutal corrective" to Slumdog Millionaire (2008).[49]
K. Austin Collins from Rolling Stone gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing that the film was a capable, compelling and topical drama but suffered "for giving us a setup that's richer than the follow-through." The critic praised Gourav's performances as "unassuming but pitch-perfect" and he felt that Rao and Chopra Jonas also gave equally worthy performances.[50]
In a mixed review, A.O. Scott of The New York Times deemed the film "a barbed rags-to-riches tale" and wrote "The plot is lively, and the settings vividly captured by Bahrani and the director of photography, Paolo Carnera, but the characters don't quite come to life. They aren't trapped by prescribed social roles so much as by the programmatic design of the narrative, which insists it is showing things as they really are. If it wasn't so insistent, it might be more convincing."[51]
Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club criticised the film for only "hitting the key themes and scenes without finding an independent tone", while also adding that the overtly explaining narration repeatedly takes the reins away from Gourav's acting.[52] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote "Like in 99 Homes, Bahrani directs with an eye on narrative propulsion rather than subtlety — but Balram's psychological arc is gripping, and the film is compulsively watchable."[53]
Awards and nominations[edit]
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AACTA Awards | March 7, 2021 | Best Lead Actor – International | Adarsh Gourav | Nominated | [54] |
Academy Awards | April 25, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Ramin Bahrani | Nominated | [55] |
Asian World Film Festival | March 20, 2021 | Snow Leopard Rising Star | Adarsh Gourav | Won | [56] |
British Academy Film Awards | April 11, 2021 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Adarsh Gourav | Nominated | [57] |
Best Adapted Screenplay | Ramin Bahrani | Nominated | |||
Independent Spirit Awards | April 22, 2021 | Best Male Lead | Adarsh Gourav | Nominated | [58] |
Writers Guild of America Awards | March 21, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Ramin Bahrani | Nominated | [59] |
References[edit]
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- ^ Hipes, Patrick (3 February 2021). "WGA Awards TV Nominations: 'Better Call Saul', 'Ted Lasso' & 'The Great' Lead Way". Deadline. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
External links[edit]
- The White Tiger at IMDb
- The White Tiger at Rotten Tomatoes
- Script Archived January 29, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- 2021 films
- 2021 drama films
- 2021 independent films
- 2021 multilingual films
- 2020s American films
- 2020s Indian films
- 2020s English-language films
- 2020s Hindi-language films
- American drama films
- American independent films
- American multilingual films
- Asian-American drama films
- English-language Indian films
- Netflix original films
- Films directed by Ramin Bahrani
- Films set in Delhi
- Films set in Bangalore
- Films shot in Delhi
- Films about Indian Americans
- Indian drama films
- Indian independent films
- Indian multilingual films
- Wen Jiabao family
- Films about landlords
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구독자 님은 '인도영화' 하면 가장 먼저 뭐가 떠오르시나요? 아마 흥겨운 음악과 노래 그리고 춤, 뮤지컬 같은 연출이 먼저 생각나실 텐데요. 그런데 오늘 소개해 드릴 이 영화, 인도에서 만들었지만 그동안 우리가 봐왔던 발리우드 무비들과는 조금 다릅니다.
오늘 만나보실 영화 <화이트 타이거>는 그동안 잘 알려지지 않았던 인도 사회의 어두운 이면인 '계급'과 그로 인한 빈부격차를 낱낱이 파헤치는 작품이에요. 빈민층의 인물들이 상류층으로 올라가기 위한 이야기를 다룬다는 점 때문에 인도판 <기생충>이라는 평가를 받고 있기도 한 이 작품, 주간영화에서 만나보세요.
닭장을 나온 백호
필리핀에서 학교를 다니던 시절, 우리 집에는 같이 살면서 집안일을 도와주는 필리핀 현지인들이 몇 명 있었다. 빨래, 설거지, 청소 그리고 요리까지. 떠올릴 수 있는 모든 집안일은 그들의 몫이었다. 아침에 내놓은 빨래는 저녁이 되면 마치 우렁각시라도 왔다 간 것처럼 말끔하게 세탁이 되어 있었고, 방바닥은 먼지가 쌓일 틈 없이 항상 윤기가 흘렀다.
우리는 그들을 '아떼'라고 불렀다 아때는 따갈로그어로 'sister'라는 뜻이다. 그러니까 우리는 몇 년 동안 그 사람들을 이름이 아닌, '아저씨'나 '아줌마'와 같은 호칭으로만 불렀다는 것이다. 내가 받던 한 달 용돈이 그들이 받는 월급의 몇 배라는 사실을 알았을 때, 외국인만 보면 달려들었던 길거리의 걸인들을 봤을 때, 처음으로 '계급'이라는 어떤 투명한 유리 벽의 존재를 느끼는 순간이었다. 그때 내 용돈은 한 달에 10만 원이었다.
계급. 특히 자본주의를 논할 때 계급은 빠질 수 없는 단어다. 그동안 많은 영화들이 이 자본주의의 계급이라는 주제를 다뤄왔지만, <화이트 타이거>처럼 노골적이고 찝찝하며 현실적인 작품은 드물다. <기생충>이 미묘한 비유와 상징성으로 조심스럽게 이 주제를 다뤘다면, 상류층으로의 도약을 꿈꾸는 빈민층이라는 공통된 이야기를 다루는 <화이트 타이거>는 좀 더 직접적이고 과감하게 현실의 껍질을 한 풀 벗겨낸다.
인도에는 '카스트'라는 신분제가 있다는 걸 모르는 사람은 아마 없을 것이다. 그러나 흔히 알고 있는 브라만, 크샤트리아, 바이샤 그리고 수드라 - 이 네 가지 계급 외에도 수천 개의 계급이 존재하고 있다는 사람은 아마 드물 것이다.
과거에 계급을 결정짓는 것이 철저히 피에서 피로 이어지는 혈연이었다면, 자본주의 사회가 지배하는 현대 사회에서 계급을 결정짓는 건 바로 '돈'이다. 영화 <화이트 타이거>는 카스트라는 전통의 신분제가 현대의 자본주의와 결탁해 벌어지는 이 기묘한 현상을 성공한 스타트업 CEO가 된 현재의 발람의 시선으로 관찰하는 데서 시작된다.
<화이트 타이거>의 나레이터이자 주인공인 발람은 먼 옛날 인도가 가장 부유했을 때 천 개의 카스트와 천 개의 숙명이 있다고 말한다. 발람의 카스트는 '할와이'다. 할와이의 숙명은 과자류나 단것을 만드는 것이다. 발람의 소원은 단 하나, 자신에게 놓인 이 숙명과, 가난의 굴레에서 벗어나는 것이다.
영어를 읽지도 못하는 반 친구들과는 달리 영어를 읽고, 영특함을 뽐내던 어린 시절의 발람은 선생님으로부터 '너는 화이트 타이거다'라는 최고의 칭찬을 듣는다. 영화의 제목이자, 중요한 상징이기도 한 '화이트 타이거', 즉 백호는 한 세기에 한 번만 나오는 영물이다. 어둡기만 한 자신의 미래에서 한 줄기 희망을 본 발람, 그러나 아버지가 오랜 지병으로 세상을 떠나고 그 빚을 물려받은 발람은 학교가 아닌 허름한 찻집에서 일을 시작한다.
발람은 계급의 최하층인 이곳에서마저 석탄을 깨는 일이라는, 가장 낮은 일을 맡는다. 말 그대로 바닥 중에 바닥까지 내려앉은 발람은 자신과 같은 하층민들의 처지를 '닭장 속의 닭'으로 비유한다. 눈 앞에서 동료가 목이 잘리고 죽어도, 도망갈 생각조차 하지 못하는 그런 닭. 발람은 자신이 그저 한 마리의 닭이 아닌, 백호라는 것을 증명하기 위해 자신이 살던 곳의 지주 가족에게 접근해 그들의 충직한 '하인'이 되기로 결심한다.
비슷한 계급 서사를 다루는 영화 <기생충>에서 가족이라는 존재가 서로 힘을 합쳐 가난을 이겨내는 동료처럼 그려진다면, <화이트 타이거>는 전혀 다르다. 발람의 가족들은 마치 함지박에 담긴 꽃게처럼, 서로를 끌어내리기에 바쁘다. 전통적인 인도 사회에서 집안의 우두머리 역할을 수행하는 발람의 할머니는 영화 내내 발람을 이 닭장 속에서 나가지 못하게 방해하는 역할로 등장한다. 결국 발람은 자신이 버는 모든 돈을 바치겠다는 조건 아래 할머니에게 돈을 빌려 운전 강습을 받고, 지주의 아들 중 하나인 유학생 출신 '아쇽'의 운전기사가 되는데 성공한다.
마침내 자신이 그렇게 꿈꾸던 상류층의 삶에 발을 디딘 자신이 그토록 갈망하던 삶의 진실을 마주한다. 자신에게 꿈과 희망을 줬던 낮은 카스트 출신의 여성 정치인의 부패, 그리고 그런 정치인들에게 뇌물을 바치며 자신들의 위치를 유지하려는 상류층의 민낯. 그저 낭만적으로만 보였던 그들의 세계는 생각보다 더 더러웠고, 자신이 사는 닭장과 다를 바 없다는 것을 깨닫는다.
델리의 거물 정치인에게 뇌물을 먹이려는 지주 가족의 계획을 알게 된 발람은, 그토록 원하던 대도시로 가기 위해 자신보다 오래 일한 운전기사가 무슬림이라는 사실을 폭로해 그를 자리에서 몰아낸다. 결국 자신 역시 할머니처럼 닭장 속의 또 다른 닭을 바닥으로 끌어내린 발람은 점점 더 그들과 가깝게 생활하며 마치 자신도 이 부류의 일원이 되었다는 착각에 빠진다.
그러나 발람의 입에서는 여전히 악취가 나고, 옷은 때가 꼬질꼬질하며, 사람들 앞에서 사타구니를 긁는 등 그의 정체성은 여전히 하층민의 본질에서 벗어나지 못한다. 이런 발람은 아쇽의 아내 핑키 부인의 충고를 들으며 이를 닦고, 옷과 구두를 사는 등 점점 변화한다. 그리고 이런 기본적인 사회의 것들을 배울수록, 발람은 점점 더 자신의 출생과 자신의 가족들을 원망하게 된다. 오랜만에 고향을 찾은 발람에게 할머니가 닭고기를 권하자, 발람은 처음으로 할머니에게 반항하며 이런 '닭'의 처지에서 벗어나겠다고 마음을 다잡는다.
<화이트 타이거>에는 세 부류의 인물들이 존재한다. 주인공 발람이 속한 하층민들, 발람의 주인인 지주가 속한 상류층. 그리고 아쇽이라는 인물로 대변되는 기존의 전통적인 계급 사회를 거부하고 새로운 변화를 주장하는 새로운 계급들. 그러나 중요한 사실은 아쇽 또한 결국 하나의 새로운 '계급'이라는 사실이다.
영화는 단순히 상류층=악, 하류층=선이라는 이분법적 사고를 들이밀지 않는다. 언뜻 보면 발람을 인격적으로 대우하는 듯한 아쇽 또한 은연중에 발람을 '개벽시켜야 하는 하나의 대상'으로 바라보며 동등한 인간으로서 대우하지 않는다. 결국 아쇽 또한 전통적인 계급주의에 동화되며 자신이 거부하던 가족들의 차별적인 태도를 그대로 닮아간다. 영화는 각자 자신의 이득을 따라 움직이는 인물들의 모습을 보여주며 이곳에 절대적인 선이나 악 따위는 없다고 말한다.
발람이 유일하게 믿었던 상류층 인물인 아쇽과 핑키 부인마저 자신을 뺑소니 사건의 범인으로 만들려는 모습을 목격한 그는, 자신이 숭배하던 상류층 인간들을 더 이상 동경의 시선이 아닌 증오의 시선으로 바라보기 시작한다. 이제 발람에게 중요한 건 돈이 아닌, 명예다. 태생을 지우고 아쇽의 가족처럼 마치 원래부터 이곳에서 존재했던 사람이 되는 것.
영화는 현실의 벽 앞에 무너져 내린 이상의 가치들을 '무하마드 간디의 동상'이라는 상징으로 보여준다. 자유와 평등을 외쳤던 그의 동상 앞에서 범죄를 저지르는 상류층의 모습. 결국 자신이 거부하던 상류층의 모습과 똑같이 변해버리는 아쇽. 끝까지 발람을 인격적으로 대우하던 핑키 부인마저 결국 인도를 떠나버리는 모습을 통해 현재 인도 사회의 모습을 적나라하게 묘사한다.
영화의 초반부터 등장하던 백호는 영화의 후반부에 이르러서야 그 모습을 드러낸다. 말로만 듣던 그 '백호'를 직접 바라보는 뜻깊은 순간, 그러나 발람이 꿈꾸던 그 백호 역시 닭장 속에 갇혀있는 닭들과 다를 바 없는 처지다. 그나마 저항할 의지라도 드러내며 케이지 속에서 쉬지 않고 움직이는 백호가 될 것인가, 목적도 의지도 잃어버린 닭이 될 것인가. 그러나 결국 이 둘 모두 어딘가에 갇혀있는 신세라는 점은 변하지 않는다.
백호를 드디어 만난 발람은 마침내 결심한다. 이 케이지 속에서의 삶을 끝내겠다고. 발람은 아쇽을 살해하고, 그가 정치인들에게 뇌물을 주기 위해 들고 다니던 가방 속 현금을 챙겨 아쇽이 말하던 혁신 도시 벵갈루루로 떠난다. 누구보다 가까이에서 상류층의 생리를 파악한 발람은 이제 그들이 하던 대로 공무원들에게 뇌물을 바치며 사업을 장악해 나간다. 발람이 차린 택시 스타트업 회사의 이름은 '화이트 타이거'다.
발람은 그렇게 마침내 닭장을 탈출한다. <화이트 타이거>는 권선징악이나, 최소한의 죄책감을 느끼는 발람의 모습을 보여주는 대신 자신의 선택이 옳았다고 말하는 발람의 입을 빌려 우리가 믿어오던 일념의 가치들을 뒤집어 버리는 결말로 마무리된다.
영화는 여전히 이 닭장 속에서 탈출하지 못한 '닭'들의 모습들을 보여주며 막을 내린다. 한 가지 기묘한 점은 이들을 절대 동정 어린 시선이나, 감정적인 연출로 바라보지 않는다는 점이다. 마치 이들이 '발람'이 그랬던 것처럼 주인을 몰아내고 위로 올라설 것이라는 암시를 남기는 듯, 오히려 어딘가 결의에 찬 얼굴들을 보여주며 찝찝한 여운을 남긴다.
빈곤층이 위로 올라갈 방법은 두 가지, 범죄와 정치라는 이 절망적인 이야기가 해피엔딩이라고 말하며 오히려 희망을 바라보게 만드는 연출이 이 비극을 더 절망적으로 만든다.
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