Bollywood film Newton, starring Rajkummar Rao, has been named India’s official entry to the Oscars. The Amit Masurkar-directed movie did well in the world festival circuit and was received well at Berlin and the Tribeca Film Festivals.
Berlin festival described it as a film ‘with a feel for the special, multifaceted humour and director Amit Masurkar succeeds in making the film into a black comedy about the pale spectre of democracy in dark times’.
Ever since the news of its entry into Oscars was announced the box office income has been increasing, accumulating Rs 8.21 crore at the end of the fifth day which is seen a healthy picking for a film of that nature.
Newton has been mired in allegations of plagiarism with its similarity to an Iranian film titled Secret Ballot. Indian film revolves around a government employee who struggles to supervise voting in a forest area controlled by Naxalite rebels.
Secret Ballot is a movie which focuses on a woman ballot officer who visits a barren and desolate island to plead with voters to cast their votes and take part in the elections. Producers of Secret Ballot have said that there was “not even a hint of plagiarisation” in Newton.
Among 26 other films in the running for India’s entry to the Oscars were Baahubali 2: The Conclusion and Telugu film Gautamiputra Satakarni.
Actress Priyanka Chopra was confident about her film Ventilator which she produced would make the final cut but she is said to have been disappointed to hear about Newton’s success. Chopra’s film became a box office hit and won three national awards this year.
So far there are only three Indian films shortlisted for Oscar’s foreign language category: Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1988) Lagaan (2001).
It is little disappointed to note that some of the best films have not represented India. Many hoped that Parched directed by Lina Yadav would make it to the Oscars but it never did. The controversial movie starring Radhika Apte, won many awards at foreign festivals and has been even inducted into the prestigious Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, popularly known as the Oscar Library.This is the first time in the history of the Indian cinema that a non-mainstream Indian film has received this honour.
The films of non-Bollywood directors Buddhadev Dasgupta and Adoor Gopalakrishnan, considered as two of the most talented Indian film makers known world over for their acclaimed films, have never been named for Oscars from India.
Sri Lankan film fans will be elated to know that Anjali Patil who won two national awards for best actress last year for her superb portrayal of a Tamil girl in Prasanna Vithanage’s With You Without You is playing a lead role in Newton.
