Priyanka Chopra comes to The White Tiger director Ramin Bahrani's support after he faces racist comments in US

The White Tiger director and Oscar nominee Ramin Bahrani has opened up about how he had to face a verbal racial attack in Atlanta recently, during a QnA session. Ramin was speaking to the camera with producer Ava Duvernay when a man in the streets passed racist comments at him.

Ramin said the man told him to 'go back to his country'. The filmmaker was born and brought up in North Carolina.

Speaking to People magazine, he said, "I was in Atlanta on location in a residential neighbourhood 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!'"

Actor Priyanka Chopra, who played a supporting role in The White Tiger and was also an executive producer on the film, said, "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."

Ava said that she told Ramin right during the QnA session to address what had happened, rather than brushing it under the carpet.

Ramin has been nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category at the 93rd Academy Awards. He adapted his friend and Man Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga's book by the same name into a critically acclaimed film.