Newton - The electoral farce



Newton, India’s entry to the Oscars, is a satirical take on the country’s electoral system. Rajkummar Rao is an upright polling officer who is deployed in a Maoist-infested territory of Chhattisgarh during the Lok Sabha elections, his maiden assignment. His ideals and principles compel him to set up a polling booth in a remote village although there are only 76 citizens who are eligible to exercise their fundamental right. Others around him unfailingly persuade him against entering a dangerous territory, but he sticks to his ground despite the odds. He believes he can change the system and mindsets even though he is told on his face that change does not happen overnight.

The less-than-two-hour film makes a fine commentary on the farce surrounding the elections in some parts of the country, in this case Chhattisgarh, where people haven’t even seen an electronic voting machine before. Many are dragged to the voting centre and told about the various symbols belonging to different candidates. This is done just in time to paint a favourable picture to a visiting foreign journalist who claims that India’s democracy is healthy and alive. Rao is a lone ranger in trying to convince the villagers that this exercise will eventually bring about a change in the way they live, but they do not seem to agree and merely cast their votes under duress.

Rao is constantly at loggerheads with Pankaj Tripathi, who plays an army officer who has seen too many elections in the violence-hit region to believe anything can be any different this time. Their exchanges are the highlight of the film with some fine dialogues giving a glimpse into the attitudes prevalent among those involved in such a mammoth and important event. While polling ends at 3 pm in the region, circumstances are created for Rao to leave the jungle way before time only for him to realise later that he had been taken for a ride all this while. This make him even more determined to honestly complete the task assigned to him. The end shows how he’s a stickler for following the rules and how that is surprisingly considered a badge of honour when it should instead be a given.

Newton is understated in the message that it tries to convey and even touches on issues like child marriage and dowry in a subtle manner. The pace of the film, however, is slow and is not likely to appeal to the masses who veer more towards entertainers. Besides, the subject is too niche for everyone to understand the dark humour behind the story. It’s a fine effort in filmmaking, but there’s a limited audience for such movies. The film though has some brilliant performances. Rao and Tripathi, especially, are fantastic with their silences and expressions.

It is unlikely that Newton will win an Oscar and the fact that it is inspired by an Iranian film now takes away a lot of credit that it otherwise deserves. However, it’s praiseworthy that there are filmmakers who dare to make such films and there’s an audience that is lapping it up. Newton is not an entertainer but an entertaining account of what goes on in the name of elections. 

 - Kunal Purandare 

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