Movie Review - Newton by Suhel Johar

Despite The Serious Issues Newton Deals With, It's A Fun Journey.

Newton is India’s official entry in the Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Oscars. Directed by Amit V Masurkar, Newton premiered at the 67th Berlin International Festival in the Forum Section wherein it won the CICAE Award for best film. Newton has already reportedly travelled more than 40 international film festivals all over the world and created quite a buzz.

It surely can't be any easy job to take serious subject matters like election fraud and conflict between government troops and communist rebels, and then make a film out of it however that is exactly what the makers of Newton have set out to do here. Newton is a satire on the power dynamics that governs the lives of the tribal people inhabiting the Naxal-prone areas across India. Newton is essentially a one-day story of two men - a cynic and an eternal optimist - who must go about fulfilling their respective electoral duties according to what they deem right in the supposedly dangerous area of Chattisgarh. Though there are only 76 people in the list Nutan Kumar (Rajkummar Rao), who likes to be called Newton is determined to get the elections done with complete fairness.

The self-righteous government clerk action hero takes on self-important military escort Atma Singh (Pankaj Tripathi), supposedly protecting him from dangers unseen, but inevitably becoming his antagonist. Both consider the other a fraud: Newton’s strict obedience to the rules of the electoral system – indeed, his devotion to an inherently Western idea of political democracy – is mocked by Atma Singh’s unhelpful political apathy, while Singh’s brutish, inflated military persona offers plenty of opportunities for some great physical theatre .

Newton is a man of principles. When his father tries to marry him to an underage girl he protests. He is one of those rare individuals who take great pride in following the rules to a tee. Now, his parents had named him Nutan but people used to make fun of his name and so he changed it to Newton in the Class-X examination form. His sense of duty is bolstered when one of his seniors tell him that it was Newton’s theory of gravity that proved that the laws of nature are same for the king and the pauper. The rest of the film follows Newton as he tries to live by this belief while serving as a presiding officer during a seemingly impossible mission to conduct free and fair voting in a Naxalite territory.  

Newton offers an interesting take on the contrasting ideas of idealism and pragmatism. Also, it is one of the better films revolving around the issue of Naxalism in India. Much of the film is a face-off between Newton and Atma Singh, the tone shifting between friendly and  adversarial many times. There were knowing laughs, where one wants to say 'true that'. There were plenty of unexpected laughs as well. It also does a nice job of blending these laughs in with the more serious subject matter, the little moments like one if the election officials saying he only volunteered for the assignment as he had never been in a helicopter before (despite the risks he will face). The film is rightly balanced and shows the reality without getting preachy for most part of the film. The film through its nuanced storytelling has the power to transform you into a responsible citizen.  Where the film fails to fully reach its potential is that it does a few too many times try to take itself a bit too seriously. There are a few moments when there is a long bout of dialogue though something a bit lighter might have worked as much. However even these can't fully take away from what was a fun and interesting film.

Newton is engaging for the most part but the ending fails to provide a satisfying closure, leaving the viewer wanting for more. If the film loses its way near the ending (you feel like perhaps they wrote their way into a hole in some ways) it is well worth your time. Honestly, watching Newton was in a way slightly underwhelming experience due to the hype surrounding the film.

Amit V Masurkar’s first film Suleimani Keeda which released in 2014 received rave reviews from critics all over the world. Newton his second film had to take the expectations a couple of notches higher and it did so with complete ease and magnificence. Masurkar  has cooked up one of the finest black comedies to ever come out of Bollywood. Masurkar has co-written the film with Mayank Tewari and they have done a good job of it. The countless satires and black comedy delivered through subtle dialogues, like “Bulletproof jacket Sarkari maal hai, kas ke na baandhu toh goli paar ho jaati hai”, “Vardi mein vinti bhi dhamki lagti hai” and a montage sequence of the mention of political candidates are simply amazing.

The cinematographer Swapnil Sonawane deserves a special mention for uplifting the quality of the film with frames that touch your heart. Editing by Shweta Venkat is good. Music by Rachita Arora is good, Background score by Naren Chandavarkar and Benedict Taylor is effective.

Performancewise, Rajkummar Rao is solid in the role of Newton Kumar. The precision with which he plays his character is astounding. His rapid eye blinking, the simple walk, the stubbornness all gives the character an extremely fine shape. Pankaj Tripathi, playing the role of Atma Singh delivers a standout performance too. Raghubir Yadav, Anjali Patil play roles of supporting cast with honesty and sincerity. Sanjay Mishra in his guest appearance lights up the film with his amazing dialogue delivery.

On the whole, Newton is a brilliant film and is a must watch!