Newton to be India’s Oscar entry next year

On the day of its release, Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton has been declared to be India’s official entry to the Oscars next year. With the film coming in for praise for its realistic script and for portraying the media in contemporary India, the actor himself tweeted early today that he had come to know that the film had been chosen to be the Oscar entry. Here’s the Newlaundry review.

Rajkummar Rao plays Newton Kumar, 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 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. The film is set in Chhattisgarh.

Rao’s former director Hansal Mehta also tweeted in praise of the film by Amit Masurkar. NDTV.com reported that a trade analyst revealed that a 14-member jury picked it from among 26 films. Three Indian films have been nominated for best foreign film earlier, they are Mother India, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan. The last entry was Visaranai (Interrogation) by Dhanush.