"Newton" Hindi film review - Simplicity at its best, with superlative performances!

Movie poster image source & credit: Wikipedia

Recall that moment when the entire audience is in unison during a film?! That was exactly what I experienced while watching this film - first day first show. The entire audience laughed together, and gasped together, each time! Yes, Newton is one of the best films of the year. In fact, after Masaan, I seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed this. It's a purist's film, all through, with some splendid direction by Amit Masurkar, directing just his second feature film!

A government reserve officer, Nutan Kumar (he strongly prefers being called "Newton", though) is sent to a remote village in Chattisgarh to conduct a Lok Sabha poll, and being a principled man that lives by the rule-book, his only objective in life at that point is to get the 76 tribal voters come-in and vote. What's the catch there, you might wonder! Well, this region is strongly hit by Naxalism, and turns into a political satire...

It tells you to simply go about doing your duty. In a very nice manner. And also taught me that the problem with most principled men is not in being principled, but in taking pride in being so.

Rajkummar Rao's selection of excellent scripts continues - knock on wood - he seems to have the Midas touch! It was heartening to see a full house that Friday evening. What touched me was the simplicity of the film. It does give one ample food for thought, though.

There is a scene where a tribal just stands in front of the electronic voting machine gaping at it, without knowing what to do with it! It tugged at my heartstrings, showing yet again that despite being in the 21st century, there are still many places lacking bare basic amenities! It also makes one think about the value of education.

The terrific performances are the motherboard - read b-a-c-k-b-o-n-e - of the film. The casting directors Romil Modi and Tejas Girish Thakker gets full-marks!
It is heartening to watch the immensely talented Pankaj Tripathi, who is seen again with Rao, after his brilliant act in Bareilly ki Barfi.
Then, there's Raghubir Yadav, who stands on his own, as Loknath-ji. He also croons for a song, as the end credits roll.
Anjali Patil is a great cast, too!
Not to forget Sanjay Mishra - sad that he gets only two scenes, but makes an awesome impact - and the memorable one-liners... which make you ponder about the state of affairs in rural India.

The background score is effective and takes off the slow pace of the film. Naren Chandavarkar's and Benedict Taylor's OST is pretty earthy and appealing.

As I was walking out of the movie-hall, I was smiling and let the haunting performances blow my heart and mind, like a shofar. I also remember wondering if this is Oscar material, and was extremely delighted the next morning, when I read the papers. In my view, the one major hurdle that might stop this one from winning the Academy Award is its reported 'striking' similarity to a 2001 foreign-language film mentioned below, should it get selected for the top-five.

This film makes me curious of two other films, now. Masurkar's debut film, Sulemani Keeda (2013) - has anyone watched it, yet? - and The Secret Ballot (2001 Iranian film), which this one draws comparisons to. I wonder if the Iranians can ever stop making excellent cinema! After Indian films (and English, of course), the most I have possibly watched are South Korean and Iranian films.

My verdict: 4.75 out of five. We should be fortunate to have wonderful actors like Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi. Watch Rao's body language and simple nuances; like how he even blinks! Hope success does not go to his head as he has gradually turned into one of my favourite actors of all time.