Actor Adarsh Gourav's 2021 film The White Tiger got multiple nominations in Internationally acclaimed awards such as the Academy Awards, BAFTA and Writers Guild of America Awards. With so much exposure at an early stage of his career, Gourav feels that the film gave him the confidence to aim for higher projects.
The White Tiger, co-starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkummar Rao, was directed by Iranian-American director Rahmin Bahrani and was based on the novel by the same name.
Adarsh, 30, whose film Superboys of Malegaon recently got a standing ovation at Toronto International Film Festival says, "I feel like before The White Tiger, I never had faith in my abilities as an actor. What White Tiger definitely did was give me the confidence to own it. It is to be able to trust my abilities better, trust my instincts better."
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However, the actor is quick to not sound overconfident. He says, "Not to say that as an actor when I am doing a character or a film, I know everything that I am doing. Infact, anybody who will tell you that is lying. What it did for me is open up a lot of doors and increased the opportunities I get as an actor. Ofcourse bigger parts, bigger productions. Got representation in LA, got representation in London so I have been auditioning for a lot of international projects. Aliens happened because of that. So, I feel White Tiger was a doorway to a better future."
{{/usCountry}}However, the actor is quick to not sound overconfident. He says, "Not to say that as an actor when I am doing a character or a film, I know everything that I am doing. Infact, anybody who will tell you that is lying. What it did for me is open up a lot of doors and increased the opportunities I get as an actor. Ofcourse bigger parts, bigger productions. Got representation in LA, got representation in London so I have been auditioning for a lot of international projects. Aliens happened because of that. So, I feel White Tiger was a doorway to a better future."
{{/usCountry}}Gourav eventually moved to diverse storytelling, including OTT release Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan co-starring Ananya Panday and Siddhanth Chaturvedi.
While he accepts that The White Tiger helped him hone his talent, he asserts that his opportunities also came because more of his craft and not just because of the validation he got from international audience.
"I don't know if it has got to do with international recognition and just them liking what I did in White Tiger. Irrespective, I feel the character I played in White Tiger in general is what people liked and I don't know how of it has to do with international recognition but it was about what they saw and what they believed," says the actor.