India enters “Newton” for Oscars

National award-winning actor Rajkumar Rao-starrer film “Newton”, which tells the story of a government official trying to conduct free and fair elections in a Maoist-hit jungle, is India's official entry to the Oscars next year in Foreign Language category. 

“Newton”, which hit screens on September 22, also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Raghubir Yadav, Anjali Patil, Danish Hussain and Sanjay Mishra.

 “Very happy to share this news... congratulations team,” Rajkummar, who plays the role of a government officer in the film set in the jungles of central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, said in a tweet.

An official document said “Newton”, a hard look at India's political and electoral system, was picked from out of 26 films by a jury of 14 members. The selection is done by the Federation of Indian Motion Pictures' Association.  

Directed by Amit V Masurkar, the film opened today to critical acclaim particularly of the performance of Rakumar and co-star Pankaj Tripathi.

Reacting to the selection of “Newton” as India's Oscar entry, Rajkummar said “I am elated and super thrilled. The kind of response we are getting for the film in India is so good and now, an Oscar submission, it's huge. I am very happy to represent India at Oscars. I hope the film makes it to the final list. We made the movie with a lot of passion, sincerity and honesty, and people are recognising that sincerity.”

India's submission to the Oscars last year was “Visaranai”, produced by Dhanush. Previous entries included like “Court”, “Liar's Dice” and “Lagaan”. No Indian film since “Lagaan” in 2001 has made it to the final five of the Oscar race, and no Indian film has ever won the Academy Award.