My heart skipped a beat when the opening credits of The White Tiger, Ramin Bahrani’s film that dropped on Netflix last week, starring Priyanka Chopra, Rajkummar Rao and Adarsh Gourav, listed Bahrani’s Noruz Films as a producer. It sounded close to Navroze, Parsi/Persian/Iranian New Year that the Parsis celebrate in India, and instantly made a soul connection between Bahrani and India. The film is currently on JioCinema (see my column White Tiger bares its claws, January 24). Bahrani, an American director of Iranian origin, has a very impressive body of work. Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert called Bahrani “the new great American director” and became his good friend; and legendary German director Werner Herzog grew fond enough of Bahrani, to lend his voice for Bahrani’s short film Plastic Bag.

Bahrani has directed about 19 films and TV series, many with a keen empathy for people on the margins, for the outsider. Born in North Carolina, US, Bahrani did film studies at Columbia and spent three years in Iran. Director, producer, writer and editor, his films include The White Tiger, 99 Homes, Fahrenheit 451 and Man Push Cart. His blazing achievements include Man Push Cart (Venice, Sundance, London Film Festivals); Chop Shop (Cannes, Berlin, Toronto Film Festivals), Goodbye Solo (FIPRESCI prize for Best Film, Venice Film Festival, Toronto); 99 Homes (Venice, Toronto Film Festivals; Michael Shannon earned a Golden Globe nomination); At Any Price (Venice Film Festival); and Bahrani has also served on the Venice Film Festival jury.