Iranian-American director-writer Ramin Bahrani’s Netflix film ‘The White Tiger’ has been receiving rave reviews.
The movie starring Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkummar Rao has even bagged an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
However, in spite of all these accomplishments, Ramin Bahrani was recently subjected to some racial taunts while he was in Atlanta, US.
Ramin opened up about the incident to People Magazine – “I was in Atlanta on location in a residential neighborhood directing a TV pilot for Apple. We had worked late that day, so I had to do my Zoom interview with Ava on my phone while we were still in the street.
During the interview, I noticed a car parked behind me. When the driver saw me and my colleague (who is South Asian) he said, ‘You all think you run the world. You all don’t run s—.’ His friend told him to calm down and leave it alone. As the driver pulled away, he shouted, ‘Go back to your own country!‘”
Bahrani further added, “All this made me recall a Nelson Mandela quote, ‘No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate.’ “
When Priyanka got to know about the incident, she offered her support to the director against the racial attack.
“Asking me about my thoughts on what happened to Ramin is a sign of where we stand today, and the work we have to continue to do. So my question in response is – who belongs here, and who doesn’t? Isn’t America a melting pot of all people from all backgrounds? This country was built on the back of immigrants in search of the American dream, a life of freedom, opportunity, and a safe place not only for themselves but for their families,” she commented to People magazine.
