“The White Tiger,” Aravind Adiga's darkly comedic novel about a clever servant’s rise out of poverty in India, won the Booker Prize in 2008. Thirteen years later, “The White Tiger” is a big hit for Netflix. The film adaptation is written and directed by Adiga's friend from college, Ramin Bahrani.
Adiga dedicated his novel to Bahrani, never thinking his friend would turn it into a movie. And a movie that’s produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, no less.
Adiga and Bahrani remember their student days at Columbia, when they bonded over a screening of Martin Scorcese’s “Mean Streets” while other students walked out.
And they reflect on these strange times for movies. Netflix says “The White Tiger” is number one in 64 countries, but Bahrani still hasn’t been able to see his film in a theater.