Director and Writer: Amit V Masurkar
Producer: Manish Mundra
Screenplay: Amit V Masurkar. Mayank Tewari
Starring : Rajkummar
Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil, Raghubir Yadav
Music: Naren Chandavarkar, Benedict Taylor, Rachita Arora
Running time: 106 minutes
Language: Hindi, Gondi
Rating: ***.5 (3.5/5)
When a political satire or social commentary is doled out
with comedy and humor instead of being preachy, it reaches larger audiences and
the depth and poignancy of the realities are more palpable. Director Masurkar carries out this strategy with
Newton while critically depicting the state of democratic process in Indian
elections.
The story features a rule oriented, honest and idealistic,
Newton Kumar who self-christened himself Newton, not happy with the name his
was born with ;) . When sent on election
duty in the Maoist-Naxallite controlled jungle of Chhattisgarh to conduct the electoral
process, he is dogged and determined of conducting a fair voting process. In spite of his awareness of it being a conflict
region, and despite being warned and dissuaded about the whole process being a
charade, his faith in the system and sticking by the rules to conduct the
electoral procedure for democratic process is resolute. His hope to make a difference
slowly and steadily is meant to inspire every common man and citizen for a
better future.
The movie subtly exposes neglect, poverty, ignorance, corruption, indifference
of government officials, Naxalite insurgence, suppression of Adivasi’s, power
and dominance of the armed and security forces and many such issues besides the
critic of democratic electoral process.
Actor Raj Kumar Rao brings out the idealist Newton with his naïve
stubbornness with all the quirks brilliantly. The other strong character and a starch
contrast to the protagonist is of cynical skeptic and egotistical Aatma Singh
played by Pankaj Tripathi who equally shines in the process. Anjali Patil as Malko and Raghuvir Yadav as Lokhnath
all have strong roles portraying different ideologies and valid facet of the
system.
The director Masurkar
and writer Tewari have to be applauded for this dark comedy, and their hope to
make a difference…..
This movie is India’s entry to the Best foreign language
film to Oscar’s and hope it makes some impact on the
larger level too.
If you want to check out the movie on screen and personally interact with the
director check out the screening by
Indie Meme-http://www.indiememe.org/newton
Showtimes in Austin and
Dallas TX.
