Newton

Now they say Bollywood has disappointed in 2017 with films like Tubelight, Jagga Jasoos, When Harry Met Sejal or a Rangoon. I would say Bollywood has matured with films like Trapped, Hindi Medium, Bareily Ki Barfi, Shubh Mangal Savdhaan and Newton. For me, cinema has to be good which should entertain me despite having a Salman Khan or Rajkumar Rao.

Newton tells the story of an honest government officer who performs his duty to make sure there is a fair voting in the Naxalite-hit area in India.

From the director of good comedy film Sulemaani Keeda, Amit Masurkar has taken a bold step to explore the state of voting in extremely rural and sensitive area of Chattisgarh. The film ignites the fact about the villagers who are unaware of the privileges they have to choose the leaders they want, despite having a voter ID card. The film also showcases the apathy of security forces and the hunger to get the limelight from media by high level officers.

The script is pretty good while editing tends to gets slower though it will never bore you out. Dialogues are nice filled with humor. Background score gels well with the mood of the film. Art direction is amazing while Cinematography is splendid. The film boast of some mind-blowing performances. Rajkumar Rao hits the bull's eye with his sparkling performance. The actor steals the thunder with his dynamic acting. Pankaj Tripathi as chief commander will surprise you with admiring performance. Raghuvir Yadav is marvelous while Anjali Patil impresses with her simple yet powerful role.

As the Newton's first law states "objects will remain in their state of motion unless a force acts to change the motion", the film gives the same message. Overall, it was a good experience for me watching a film like Netwon. Excellent 4/5

When I entered the theatre, it lifted my heart to find the hall filling up well. Good for a small budget film, I thought. May be its Oscar nomination has boosted the crowd, the cynic in me commented.

My neighbour in the theatre came late and made us all stand up. He remained seated, however, during the National Anthem. He had, perhaps, always wished to do it but never gathered the courage or got seated in the last row with minimum risk of being seen. His courage seemed a product of darkness and less visibility. His wife stood up, he didn't try to resist her from doing that.

When the movie began to roll, the man chuckled. First, unsure ones, after all the topic seemed serious to laugh out loud. His volume as well as pitch of laughter increased as the movie progressed. His shrill laughter made me uncomfortable I was amused with the narrative, but was this something to laugh out loud? Is the film pro establishment or it has its leaning towards the other side? What is the agenda of this film?

For about two hours, the director played with my well versed, end predicting mind. He made me wait for the action. After all, there are Maoists around and military forces in every frame. The government officers trying to conduct polling have to be protected. May be, the protagonist will find the Maoists human. Where are the Maoists? When is the action due? How long shall we wait? Amit Masurkar reminded me what Brecht had said, there is no Godot.

Screenplay, script, dialogues,camera and the other crafts are right in place in this film. Director exhibits singular restrain in adhering to a single narrative. Raj Kumar is maturing as an actor in every film. Anjali Patil is a revelation and her character is the soul of the movie. Veterans Raghuvir ji, Sanjay ji and Pankaj ji kept the narrative grounded in real time.

The way the film uses silence and anticipation is unique. The director has shown a lot of courage here. In fact, silence stands out to be the antagonist in the setting of the jungles. It takes time for jungles to become a jungle, a character said. Dialogues are colloquial, still memorable. I remember now quite a few of those verbatim even after a couple of hours of watching the film. The body which passed the film in the current Indian ambiance and that which selected it to represent India in the Oscars must as well be lauded. Newton is a critique on Achhe Din peddling politicians, yet delivers the strong cure wrapped in a coloured, soluble capsule. My son dislikes the contemporary melodramatic Hindi movies. When he learnt that this has been nominated for an Oscar, he nodded his head and pursed his lips in appreciation.

Well done, Team Newton, ab Einstein banke dikhao in your next venture. All cine lovers shall keep a watch on this director, screenplay writer and, of course, Anjali and Raj, wait, Raj, Anjali? Hmm…

Watch this film with no expectations. With millions of viewers, you will see the place and hear its sounds through Rao. After all, how many times it so happens that a film discovers a new space and language for its audience?

I saw this movie yesterday and this movie has kept the momentum till end. Every one is Newton in our society and equally powerful,it's just how you contribute . whether you hold big position or just fresher Through out the movie you will see price of honesty ,Time and it's impact in our society but one who keep this as principle never fail .

Movies like these rarely come in Bollywood and I really applaud their marketing tactics. They released the film on the day of announcement of the film being sent for Oscars, which was a good gamble. There's no way a lot of people who have seen this movie, and made it a success, would have watched it otherwise.

There is a much needed class and subtlety in this movie. I specially like the suggestion they made with the shopping mall scene. Nothing was said but a lot was done! Something that is a big rarity in Bollywood. The movie tackles a serious, controversial and conversation-sparking topic with extreme good care. They managed to make people laugh while making them aware about a lot of things going on in the country.

The director needs to be applauded for this one. He has a very firm grasp on Indian culture and it's nuances. He chooses to portray it really well. No unnecessary dramatization was done. Minimalistic approach of the director makes the movie appealing. The cinematography is brilliant and refreshing.

The screenplay is smooth and never feels abrupt nor slows down to boring at any point. The film has been edited well enough to make it an engaging 1-hour-46-minutes experience.

When you have Rajkummar Rao in the movie, you do not doubt the acting skills but even he has bested himself with this one! The typical character nuances, speech, diction, blinking of eye, he perfected literally everything!

Final verdict: A MUST WATCH. I really hope people would make this a bigger success (chances are scarce) so that the producers would start shifting their focus from unbearably stupid movies like Judwa 2 to classy satirical movies like this!

I saw this fabulous Indian film called "Newton" last night which by the way is the only Indian film to be screened at this year's New Zealand International Film Festival. This film was screened at Cannes and I guess this is the second festival after the Festival de Cannes where it is being showcased. In a nutshell, this film is about an election officer who takes the responsibility of going into a forest ridden with armed revolutionaries in order to collect votes from the local residents.

I had read somewhere that Isaac Newton, the genius scientist, was actually a very complicated man. His namesake in this film seemed no different. While his intentions were good, his method of executing them was questionable. Which is why when you see this film, you will wonder if the protagonist is actually the antagonist. Everything in cinema is a matter of perspective. The film is infused with dark humour from start to finish and Rajkumar Rao is nothing short of a brilliant actor.

Because this was a festival film, I saw this film with a primarily Kiwi audience which is always a great thing. I want Indian films to have a global audience. If main-stream Bollywood films don't attract a foreign fan-following, art-house festival circuit low-budget films certainly will. It is so ironic that I saw this film at a time when New Zealand is preparing for the upcoming elections This film appeared so minimalist yet was nothing short of a funny edge-of-the-seat thriller.