At one point in Amit Masurkar’s Newton, a foreign journalist says in her piece to camera, “Despite such contrasts, India’s democracy truly runs deep.” It’s a comment that deserves a derisive snort because of the reporter’s naïveté. The contrast she’s talking about is that there’s an overwhelming Army presence in the election centre she’s reporting from because the region has only recently been wrested from Maoists.

What the journalists — we glimpse local media along with the foreign correspondent — don’t realise is that democracy is a performance in this Chhattisgarhi village. The line of voters is made up of people who have been dragged here by the Army in order to make it seem like the government is not threatened by the rebels even though they pose a serious enough danger for the Army to want to leave the area before dark. The voters don’t know the candidates asking for their votes and they have no idea how voting machines work. In a brilliant little sequence, director and co-writer Masurkar shows the politicians as smiling faces on publicity material, stuck on walls, stretched across T-shirts, and so on. Rather than real people, these ‘leaders’ are flat and fake, like the standees and posters that are made in their shape. With no elections for years in the area, nothing about voting makes sense to the locals, which is why Aatma Singh (Pankaj Tripathi), the Army officer in charge of the area, tells locals that the voting machine is a toy. All the villagers need to do is pick a symbol that appeals to them and press the button next to it.

The media neither sees nor digs up any of this. They just take the bytes that are being served up to them.

Fortunately for democracy, Newton Kumar (Rajkummar Rao) is there to oppose Aatma Singh. He’s an office clerk who takes his duty as an election officer seriously and earnestly believes in the rules designed to uphold democracy and individual liberty in India. Untouched by cynicism or bitterness, Newton doggedly follows rules and makes sure no one around him breaks any because he appreciates the importance of free and fair elections, and votes that are given freely and fairly. In Dandakaranya, everyone does their damnedest to give Newton a reality check. Newton, however, holds on to his convictions.

There’s so much to love in Newton. It’s got a cast that boasts of Rao, Tripathy and Raghuvir Yadav, who are among the most talented actors in Hindi cinema today. Rao is outstanding as Newton, whom he sculpts with subtlety and humour. Tripathy as Aatma Singh is the perfect shiny cynical foil to Rao’s Newton and it’s delightful to see Yadav, with his sensitivity and perfect comic timing, on screen again. Swapnil Sonawane’s cinematography doesn’t prettify anything or anyone, but is attuned to details that add a touch of poetry to the film. There are visuals that will linger in your memory for days, like the almost-still image of a frustrated and disappointed Newton sitting alone in the booth, with the blank blackboard behind him. Shweta Venkat Mathew’s sharp editing paces Newton perfectly and with cutaways that are delightfully on point, she matches the wit of the script beat for beat.

The real star of Newton, however, is the script that Rao, Tripathy and Yadav bring to fabulous life. The story is of an election officer who is a stickler for rules. He’s sent to preside over elections in a place where no rules apply. The interesting story is made brilliant by nuanced storytelling. Written by Masurkar and Mayank Tewari, the script taps into grim themes like the gap between ideals and reality, corruption, the charade and politics of surrender in turbulent areas like Chhattisgarh, the question of whether elections really do uphold democracy or produce simply a spectacle that mimes it, the oppressive role the Army plays as well as the unenviable conditions in which soldiers are expected to do their job.

Yet not for a moment is Newton burdened by preachiness or speechifying. Instead, it’s full of hilarious moments that allow not just for laughs but also give moments to almost every minor and major character in the film. The ‘bad guy’ is charismatic, witty and it’s easy to see why he’s admired and obeyed. We’re shown the chinks in his armour only briefly, but it’s enough to make you realise just how fragile he actually is. Masurkar’s hero is the underdog and he goads you to laugh at Newton for being a curious combination of naive, dogged and idealistic even while rooting for him. At one point, Newton is seen scampering away from the soldiers who are supposed to protect him, clutching a voting machine that’s been bundled in a tablecloth. It’s a ridiculous sight that you can’t help but laugh at, but all the while there’s also a sinking feeling in your stomach because you know he can’t outrun the soldiers.

Masurkar’s first film was Sulemani Keeda, a slightly self-indulgent look at being a struggler in Bollywood, which he both directed and wrote. In Newton, there isn’t one lazy moment. Masurkar is at the top of his game both as a writer and director. He shows rather than tells, masterfully managing the many puppet strings in his hands.

The media is one of the devices Masurkar uses to expose just how broken the current system is. The media seems to dutifully accept the version that’s put forward by the State and repeats it. The foreign journalist is blissfully unaware of the performance that’s been staged for her benefit and is incapable of looking past the giggle-inducing awkwardness in the answers that Aatma Singh gives her in halting English, when she asks him about countering Maoists. Even the local journalists don’t spot the real stories. They flock around the senior-most officer, lapping up the bytes he offers and without questioning him. The media we see in Newton is not a pillar of democracy, giving voice to the voiceless and showing truth to power. Rather it’s a gullible agent that unthinkingly regurgitates the story it’s been fed by the state.

Journalists may grumble about this depiction, but the fact that the media is one of the few elements in Newton that doesn’t get the benefit of nuance shows just how the media’s credibility has been eroded in recent times. Regardless of whether this is actually true, Newton shows the journalism as a profession has acquired that reputation. It’s callous, happy to swallow the dominant narrative, and more of a mouthpiece than an independent voice.

And yet, ultimately, it is the journalist whose words end up coming true. There’s a moment of sublime irony when it turns out that the only way freedom is possible in India, is at gunpoint. It’s a moment that both breaks your heart and gives you hope — because as Newton had hoped, there are genuine voters and they’re casting their vote, but the only reason they’re managing to do so is because a man is pointing a gun at another man. Still, despite the fact that the reporter was clueless, her pronouncement turns out to be true. Democracy truly does run deep in India.

Only, not one reporter was there to see it in action. What they saw and accepted as real was a charade, and they were happy to accept it as the truth. Come to think of it, that’s the exact opposite of what journalism should do. At a time when there’s an explosion of media outlets, particularly online and on television, this is the reputation we’ve garnered. Bravo.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @dpanjana.