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Acclaimed indie filmmaker Ramin Bahrani (99 Homes) recently finished adapting Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 for HBO, and he’s already lined-up his next project, adapting Aravind Adiga’s 2008 novel THE WHITE TIGER into a feature film for Netflix.
Mukul Deora will produce the project through his Watchtower Pictures with Prem Akkaraju and Ken Kamins as exec. producers.
The story is about the rise of a Bangaluru driver who rises from the lower caste society of India to become a successful chauffeur and businessman, not always using legal means.
Author Aravind Adiga has been a close personal friend of Bahrani’s since they went to Columbia University together, and the project has been compared to Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire in that it would appeal to Netflix’s attempt to offer content for its growing Indian subscribership but can also appeal to American and other Western audiences.
Bahrani plans to begin filming The White Tiger in India later this year, giving the following statement to Deadline:
“The author has been a close friend since college, and he wrote parts of the book in my apartment. 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.”
Represented by WME and Ziffren Brittenham, Bahrani first started getting attention for his low-budget indies featuring non-actors like 2005’s Man Push Cart, and its follow-ups Chop Shop and Goodbye Solo. With 2012’s At Any Price, Bahrani began working with established actors like Dennis Quaid and Zac Effron, which led to his acclaimed 2014 drama 99 Homes, starring Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon, which was based within the Florida housing crisis of 2008. Bahrani recently reteamed with Michael Shannon for the Fahrenheit 451 film for HBO which stars Michael B. Jordan.
Deadline first broke the news about Bahrani’s upcoming project.
Edward Douglas | East Coast Editor
