Newton

Storyline

Directed by Amit V. Masurkar, the 2017 black comedy political satire Newton captured the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and was selected as India's official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. Rajkummar Rao delivers an extraordinary, critically lauded performance as Nutan 'Newton' Kumar, an idealistic, incorruptible young government clerk obsessed with honesty and punctuality. Newton volunteers for a perilous election duty assignment in a remote, conflict-ridden tribal village nestled deep in the dense, Naxalite-controlled jungles of Chhattisgarh. Accompanied by cynical, battle-hardened CRPF Assistant Commandant Aatma Singh (Pankaj Tripathi in an exquisite, nuanced turn of pragmatic fatigue) and local tribal election liaison Malko (Anjali Patil), Newton is determined to conduct free and fair voting for the village's 76 registered voters using an electronic voting machine. Confronted by terrified tribal villagers who have never heard of democracy, staged voting for international journalists, and armed military intimidation, Newton's stubborn moral compass sparks a dark, poignant battle of wills. An essential cinematic reflection on democracy.