“The Indian entrepreneur has to be straight and crooked, mocking and believing, sly and sincere - all at the same time,” says Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourv), explaining India’s immobile, insidiously complex caste system. A precocious student, Balram’s potential is so stellar that he’s dubbed “a white tiger,” indicating he’s a rare, symbolic, once-in-a-generation phenomenon. But he cannot complete his education and his impoverished, ancestral village is ruled by a ruthless landlord and his sons. When Balram first sees the youngest son Ashok (Rajkummer Rao), just returned from America, he decides this young man will be his new ‘master.’ Intelligent and observant, Balram learns there’s great opportunity as a driver for wealthy families and Ashok, married to Pinky (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), an outspoken American, needs a chauffeur.
When they do business in New Dehli, Balram’s behind the wheel. While they’re ensconced in an opulent hotel suite, Balram’s housed in a squalid hovel in the parking garage. Then, one booze-filled night, Pinky insists on driving and a tragic accident occurs. Compliant Balram is blamed and forced to sign a false confession. With deceit, deception and betrayal lurking in every corner, wily Balram realizes how to secure his future in the carnivorous class struggle: “Do we loathe our masters behind a façade of love, or do we love them bend a facade of loathing?” adding “America is so yesterday. India is so tomorrow. The future of the world lies with the yellow man and the brown man.” Adapted/directed by Ramin Bahrani from Arvind Adiga’s 2008 Booker Prize-winning novel, it chronicles rascally Balram’s rags-to-riches rise in modern-day India in a scathing, cynical crime saga. Recommended.