Guillermo Del Toro Talks To Ramin Bahrani About Netflix's Drama 'The White Tiger' [Exclusive]

A tale of ambition almost gone awry, but also a rags to riches tale of cunning and wit, director Ramin Bahrani‘s “The White Tiger,” based on the book by Aravind Adiga, is a master vs. servants tale. More specifically, it’s about an ambitious driver (Adarsh Gourav) of a rich Indian couple (Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkummar Rao) who uses his street smarts and shrewd cleverness to escape from poverty and become an entrepreneur.

‘The White Tiger’: Ramin Bahrani’s Latest Is A Rags To Riches Tale Co-Starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas [Review]

Bahrani is known for his humanist movies like “Man Push Cart,” “Chop Shop,” both recently added to the Criterion Collection, but also increasingly bigger scaled and more ambitious works like “Fahrenheit 451” and his biggest to date, “The White Tiger.”

Recently, Bahrani sat down over Zoom with friend, fellow filmmaker, and “The White Tiger” admirer, Academy Award-winner Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water“), to discuss the ins-and-outs of making the film, how it came to be, and more. We’re proud to present that full, nearly 50-minute conversation exclusively below.

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Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

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Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav) narrates his epic and darkly humorous rise from poor villager to successful entrepreneur in modern India. Cunning and ambitious, our young hero jockeys his way into becoming a driver for Ashok (Rajkummar Rao) and Pinky (Priyanka Chopra-Jonas), who have just returned from America. Society has trained Balram to be one thing — a servant — so he makes himself indispensable to his rich masters. But after a night of betrayal, he realizes the corrupt lengths they will go to trap him and save themselves. On the verge of losing everything, Balram rebels against a rigged and unequal system to rise up and become a new kind of master. Based on the New York Times bestseller and 2008 Man Booker Prize-winning novel.

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“The White Tiger” is available now on Netflix. Watch the full conversation with Guillermo del Toro Talks To Ramin Bahrani below.