5 Unknown Facts About The White Tiger Ahead Of Its Release

As India gears up for  the premiere  of the stunning White Tiger on January 22 ,here are  some facts about the  film little known on the  public domain.

1.     Director  Rahim Bahrani who is an American  of Iranian descent spent a year in India  researching and location hunting for The White Tiger. He  went  to all the locations described  in Arvind Adiga’s novel and  shot the  film largely on  location. Bahrani also spent a large stretch of time  in Iran  learning about his own history heritage  and ancestry before   directing The White Tiger. He  believes a  culture based on  socio-economic disparity can  only be  understood by someone who makes an effort to get close to that culture

2.     Adarsh Gourav who plays the lead has taken the world by storm. Never before have seen such high praise  for an  Indian  actor . The Wall Street Journal in  its glowing  review writes,  “a zestful epic blessed with rapier wit, casually dazzling dialogue, gorgeous cinematography and, at the center of it all, a sensational star turn by an actor, singer and songwriter named Adarsh Gourav….Mr. Gourav’s range of feelings and moods is like an elite athlete’s range of motion. He pulls off the impressive feat of portraying his character as a shameless liar, sycophant, obsequious self-promoter.”  I haven’t read such praise  in a leading foreign publication for an  Indian  actor before.

3.     Adarsh Gourav who gives a performance comparable  with the best we have seen in Indian cinema(I rate him above every Bollywood debutant during the past  five years, maybe more) was selected after months of  audition . Gourav  planted his  personality  right into the heart  of his character  of Balram Halwai.  His  gait,  attitude,  speech and thought process are  all one with  the character. Mahesh Manjrekar who plays an important part  in the film tells me  they could see Gourav  doing something extraordinary  while shooting. Yes, we see it too.

4.     Priyanka  Chopra  who is  an  executive  producer  on  the  project, and   Rajkummar  Rao  share some sizzling moments on screen.There is a loveydovey  sequence in the backseat of a car which I am sure made Mr Priyanka Chopra, aka Nick Jonas, squirm in envy, professionalism be damned.

5.     The  film has a stellar supporting cast. Watch  out for  the elusive Swaroop Sampat  make  a comeback in an image-shattering part as  an  uncouth  boorish aggressively  avaricious politician. In one sequence she  abuses Mahesh Manjrekar  with the choicest Hindi expletive,  spits paan  on his livingroom centre table and walks out.