[Quick Summary: A country boy, who becomes the driver of a rich man's son in Delhi, climbs his way out of poverty, but not without dark humor and corruption.]
How do you show a character (gasp!) thinking? Usually by a physical gesture.
But what if it is even more difficult, ex. a complex thought like changing one's mind or mental anguish?
Writers are always looking for new way to show "thinking," and was impressed in the gesture in the scene below.
First, I'd not seen it anywhere else before. Second, the addition of the internal monologue helps the actor strike the right tone.
FYI: Italics = Hindi.
INT. ASHOK'S DELHI APARTMENT - AFTERNOON
...Balram serves them lunch.
BALRAM: Here you are, sir.
ASHOK: I don't want food right now.
BALRAM: I made it like we had together the other night, sir.
Mukesh wonders what this is about.
ASHOK: I don't give a shit.
BALRAM: Just a taste, sir.
Ashok slaps the food out of his hand, sending it crashing to the floor, the bowl breaking apart.
ASHOK: I said I'm not hungry....Get lost.
MUKESH: He doesn't feel like it, why are you up his ass! Get rid of it, you fucker.
ASHOK: Just leave me alone for a fucking second.
Balram walks away with the tray.
MUKESH: Until Ashok Sir calls you, don't hover over him like a fly!
BALRAM: Yes, sir.
INT. ASHOK'S DELHI APARTMENT; ELEVATOR - MOMENTS LATER
Balram pinches his hand hard, again and again. - Why am I still in servitude to this man?
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: One way to show mental anguish is using an unusual repetitive gesture.
The White Tiger (2020)
by Ramin Bahrani
Based on the novel by Aravind Adiga
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