David Farnor | On 30, Oct 2020

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is headed to Netflix in the new year for the new adaptation of The White Tiger.

99 Homes helmer Ramin Bahrani is writing and directing the adaptation of the New York Times bestseller and 2008 Man Booker Prize-winning novel, written by Aravind Adiga. The film tells the epic journey of a poor Indian driver (Adarsh Gourav) who uses his wit and cunning to break free from servitude to his rich masters (Rajkummar Rao and Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and rise to the top of the heap. Murder, love and deceit become the ultimate price for ambition.

Chopra Jones is no stranger to Netflix, having starred in romantic comedy spoof Isn’t it Romantic. She also serves as executive producer on the project. It will be released in cinemas in December before arriving on Netflix in January. Here’s the trailer:

 

Priyanka Chopra Jonas to star in Netflix’s The White Tiger

4th September 2019

Priyanka Chopra Jonas will star in Netflix’s The White Tiger.

Adapted from Arvind Adiga’s Booker Prize-winning novel, the film follows the extraordinary journey of a self-made man from tea-shop worker in a village to successful entrepreneur in a big city. Murder, love and deceit become the ultimate price for ambition.

Netflix announced the project earlier this year, with Fahrenheit 451 and 99 Homes director Ramin Bahrani writing the screenplay and taking the helm. Now, he’s got the cast to help bring to story to the screen, with global icon Priyanka Chopra Jonas (A Kid Like Jake, The Sky Is Pink) joining the cast alongside debutante Adarsh Gourav and award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao (Stree, Bareily Ki Barfi, Newton, Shahid and Omerta).

Chopra Jones is no stranger to Netflix, having starred in romantic comedy spoof Isn’t it Romantic.

She says: “I’m so excited to work with Ramin Bahrani and Netflix to bring Aravind Adiga’s poignant story to cinematic life. When I read the book, I was fascinated with the perspective of the narrative. The story’s portrayal of raw ambition and the extent one will go to achieve one’s goals is riveting. I look forward to filming this in India this fall, and also working along with Rajkummar Rao for the first time and the wonderful cast Ramin is putting together.”

“I have wanted to make a film of Aravind Adiga’s brilliant novel The White Tiger for over a decade. I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with Mukul Deora, Netflix and such an incredible cast on this project,” comments Bahrani.

Netflix is producing The White Tiger in association with Mukul Deora, with Chopra Jonas serving as executive producer. Filming will begin in India this autumn.

 

Booker winner The White Tiger heads to Netflix

9th April 2019

Man Booker Prize-winning novel The White Tiger is heading to Netflix.

The book, which is the debut of author Aravind Adiga, was published back in 2008, going on to win the coveted prize that year. It follows Balram Halwai, the smartest boy in his village. His family is too poor for him to afford for him to finish school and he has to work in a teashop, breaking coals and wiping tables. But Balram gets his break when a rich man hires him as a chauffeur, and takes him to live in Delhi. The city is a revelation. As he drives his master to shopping malls and call centres, Balram becomes increasingly aware of immense wealth and opportunity all around him, while knowing that he will never be able to gain access to that world. As Balram broods over his situation, he realizes that there is only one way he can become part of this glamorous new India – by murdering his master.

Now, Deadline reports that 99 Homes director Ramin Bahrani is adapting the novel for Netflix. Bahrani, who has just finished up on an adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 for HBO, starring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon, told Deadline that Tiger’s universal rags-to-riches theme opens up strong potential for international success. Indeed, it shares some similar themes with both Lion and Slumdog Millionaire, which makes it a good fit for Netflix, as it increasingly invests in Indian content. There is more of a personal appeal for the director, though.

“The author has been a close friend since college, and he wrote parts of the book in my apartment,” explained Bahrani, who went to Columbia University with Adiga. “One man’s personal story encompasses the entire scope of the country, and it is done with biting humor. I’m not giving anything away because it is revealed early, but the chauffeur kills his master and steals all his money. But he is charming in the way that Alex was in A Clockwork Orange. Or in Goodfellas, where you knew that Joe Pesci’s character was a sociopath, but you could relate to Ray Liotta’s character, a seemingly nice person who goes down the wrong path.

“It is also similar to the characters in 99 Homes in that the only way for Andrew Garfield’s character to come back up was corruption, and the only way Michael Shannon’s character could succeed was to be corrupt. The concept of rich and poor is so global, all over the world, and the U.S. isn’t immune to it. People here are feeling the same thing, it led to the rise of Bernie Sanders and a lot of people voted for Donald Trump because they saw him as the outsider who would change things. Clearly, he is not doing that, but people believed the concept at the time.”

The film is produced by Mukul Deora through Watchtower Pictures, with Prem Akkaraju and Ken Kamins on board as executive producers. Filming is expected to begin later this year.

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