Newton (2017) [Movie Review]


Dir: Amit Masurkar
Starring: Rajkumar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil, Raghubhir Yadav
Dur: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Drama 
Rating: 8/10

The trailer of this film is very enticing. In fact, it had me on pins till I got round to watching the film. Newton is a story of a government employee who is ramrod honest and is adamant on giving the Indian bureaucracy a face-lift. He is scorned for his methods and for his righteousness but manages to stand his ground despite the mounting opposition. The film ends well. Needless to add anything else regarding the storyline. What surprised me about the plot was how they managed to stretch it for as long as they did. The story is naively simple and much of it is shot in a specific area, namely, a makeshift election booth. The scenes are changed merely to break the monotony and sometimes appear unnecessary.
 
Waiting with Newton (Rajkumar Rao) as he waits on the voters is tedious but it reflects the truth about democracy. Democracy is pretty tedious as well. From experience it may not appear so, and that’s because most people don’t have the patience or the energy to pursue democracy in its ideal form. The result is a functional democracy or a democracy-in-name. This is the present scenario in our country. Newton isn’t being pessimistic in my opinion, its being realistic. Democratic values are beautiful and good but the way they are translated into practice is far from a pleasant spectacle.

Newton challenges, teaches and at the same time, motivates. It is a fantastic film about Indian democracy as it is practiced in remote, tribal villages. Though the pace is dreadfully slow and the plot is naïve and simplistic, the film has a charm. It did well nationally and internationally and Rajkumar Rao even won an award for his acting. The message is pure and simple but the film leaves a lot for individual thinking. Students and concerned citizens would benefit greatly from this movie and it can also be used as a discussion starter.  

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