Newton Review

Newton is a film co-written and directed by Amit Masurkar. I had this film in my mind for quite some time. After some friends said that this was a great movie, I decided to give this a watch. And I can say that I was impressed.

Plot: Newton Kumar, a rookie government clerk is sent on election duty to a Naxal-controlled town in the conflict-ridden jungles of Chhattisgarh.

Story and direction: Firstly, I would like to commend director Amit Masurkar and his team for bringing this film to us. It had a sense of sincerity and honesty embedded in it. That was visible in each and every scene. The characters of the film are unique in their very own way. Each of the characters do have a point while making their statements which makes it quite difficult to side with any particular character. Each of them had a particular trait to be liked. Also the film doesn't get preachy while delivering messages of social relevance. It comes straight to the point. Even with a shoestring budget, the film delivers in quality. Even the jokes, which were made to bring out some laughs, clicked with me. I liked the song-less approach to the film (there is only one song I guess, that is beautifully sung by Amit Trivedi and very correctly defines the situation taking place in the film). It was also quite commedable on the makers part to use real locations.

Performances: This film is filled with some great and impressive performances. Rajkummar Rao is the future of Indian cinema and this film tells us why. Pankaj Tripathi was impressive too. Anjali Patil was a great addition to the cast. Raghubir Yadav was great too and I liked the small portions of comedy that were inserted to make his character likable. Even in his small role, Sanjay Mishra delivered quite a performance.

Favorite Scene: It would be the one where Newton goes to see a girl for marriage. The scene very correctly depicted India and its people's mentality. You even side with Newton's views.

Verdict: Would highly recommend it for people who want to see quality films. If you are a person who doesn't have a liking for films without songs or any sort of commercial viability, I would say to seriously avoid this film.

I am going to give it a well-deserved 10/10.