By Akshath Indusekhar

Abstract

Amit Masurkar’s 2017 film “Newton” presents a unique exploration of democracy, elections, and governance in the context of rural India, particularly in rural India. This review delves into the exceptional performances, notably Rajkummar Rao as Newton, and the film’s witty writing. The movie skillfully weaves themes of patriarchy, caste, and government indifference into the narrative, revealing the stark realities of rural elections. Through Newton’s unwavering commitment and interactions with characters like Aatma Singh, the film satirically critiques the dance of democracy amid chaos. The characters’ motives and struggles, presented with objectivity, highlight the systemic issues at play. The latter part of the film explores disillusionment with democracy, emphasizing the lack of representation and meaningful change.

The film’s themes extend to issues of caste, party politics, citizenship, and governance, providing a poignant commentary on the socio-political landscape. Ultimately, “Newton” stands out as a powerful cinematic experience, combining stellar performances, a compelling storyline, and an unflinching examination of social challenges, and revisiting the film proved to be a wonderful viewing experience. This review seeks to unravel the intricacies of the film and analyse the work through a critical lens.

REVIEW-

Amit Masurkar’s 2017 movie Newton explores the themes of democracy, elections and governance in an incredibly unique manner; the movie’s critical acclaim, including an Academy Awards submission, comes as simply no surprise, as it boldly shatters the existing boundaries of Bollywood to shed light upon some of the most critical topics in our nation today. What can be seen as an absurdist, wry satire on the dance of democracy in the jungles of Chattisgarh, shines, owing to exceptional performances and witty writing. The reason for the choice of this movie lies in the brilliant and unbiased take on the state of affairs in rural elections, the indifference of bureaucracy, the system’s complicity in such injustice and the inconsequentiality of one sincere man against these countless wrongs; this review shall explore this further.

The protagonist, Nutan Kumar (Rajkummar Rao), (self-proclaimed as ‘Newton’) delivers arguably one of the best performances in the film. The character’s unwaveringly sincere, intransigent and honest nature is brought to life by Rao and this is pivotal to what makes this movie so brilliant. That being said, one cannot possibly ignore the other performances in the film, notably those of Pankaj Tripathi as Aatma Singh, a cynical, nonchalant, indifferent, yet powerful general, possibly the polar opposite of Newton’s naivety, effeteness and idealism. Mention must also be made of Malko (Anjali Patil), for her evocative portrayal as an Adivasi schoolteacher, a courageous, sincere volunteer assisting the presiding officers in their duties.

At the very outset, the movie introduces us to the promises made by politicians and the conflict-stricken Naxalite areas of Chattisgarh, with the merciless murder of one such politician brewing up tensions in the Dandakaranya region. After this encounter, the scene shifts to Newton’s training as a reserve election commissioner. Shown as a comical yet committed character, his doubts to the instructor about re-elections and re-re-elections are extremely far-fetched and in nearly impossible contingencies. We are also provided insights into the still-prevailing themes of patriarchy and minor-marriage, as a 16-year-old, largely uneducated girl, is rejected as a prospective bride by the upstanding and educated Newton. The typical challenges in an Indian family, with marriage to an equal, upper-caste as a primary goal, are evident; there was no place for his “lofty aspirations”. In aspects such as these, caste is one of the recurring sub-themes of the film.

It is at this juncture that the core theme of the film, the elections, emerges. Newton’s courage and upstanding nature lands him an opportunity as an election commissioner, as an election official, Kishore, fearing for his life, conjures up ridiculous excuses to escape from the responsibility of conducting the elections in one of the most dangerous regions in the country. Upon his arrival at the site of the elections, the director provides us with an unfiltered portrayal of the events in the Naxalite areas. The soldiers, in fact, refer to their location as “Pakistan”, the site of “the enemy”, a statement with resounding implications to the misdirected nationalistic fervor. The challenges are aplenty, ranging from the place of residence and the distance to be covered by foot, to even the risk of being shot and threats by the Maoists. Despite the resounding disappointment and shocking illiteracy, Newton is undaunted and absolutely committed to doing his duty.

The interactions between Aatma Singh, a literalist, indifferent yet experienced commander and Newton, with their irony, absurdist humour and recurring jibes at the characters are a refreshing departure from the gritty tone of the film. Contrary to the indifferent, lethargic government officials, Newton was committed to abiding by the rules and principles, even if his own life was at risk. This is a principle he shared with Malko, an Adivasi schoolteacher and volunteer for the elections, who was undaunted by the bulletproof jackets and Maoist threats. As Newton quite flatly puts it, he just wants to do his job and “make a difference”.

Ironically, the soldiers themselves attempted to obstruct the elections, the very institution they are sworn to protect, including the inaccurate statement of the time of elections, the mistreatment of tribals as “potential Maoists” and the fundamental deviations from procedure. Newton’s courage to “take on” the police officers is truly admirable, evident from how Loknath, another senior election officer assisting Newton, asks him whether he knew a politician, as only such a powerful person in Indian society today, can question the police officers. The disgruntled Aatma serves as a key component of a mutually mistrustful population in the region and the focus is clearly on convenience over correctness in conducting elections. This attitude trickles down from the highest levels of bureaucracy today; the general sense of resentment towards the government and the blame game played by citizenry today is a product of this indifference

Today, a plethora of comedies depict how the quintessential party leader promises great change and development only during the time of elections and this is the reality in these jungles. Also, when foreign media’s portrayal is brought to the fore, the prevalent inferiority complex forces us to insecurely overinflate our standards and practices. The previously indifferent soldiers are instantly transformed as the Deputy Inspector-General brings the media to cover this now sensational, herculean effort of conducting elections in such an isolated, dangerous area. They mercilessly drag members of the tribal community from their homes, to vote for publicity, irrespective of their choices. The sense of chaos is reflected as they pointlessly attempt to converse with those who speak the local dialect, frantically asking for voter IDs; they’re blissfully unaware of the candidates and are merely concerned about which one would make “tendu leaves cheapest”. Perhaps the most enraging scene of them all is during the explanation of the voting procedure, as Aatma blatantly directs the illiterate populace to press their favourite symbol on EVMs like “toys”. The voting itself consists of some bitter and difficult scenes, as an uneducated and ignorant individual stares around blankly while making his decision on casting his vote. Meanwhile, the foreign media, armed with its microphones to visit such isolated jungles at most every five years, admires the excellence in effort and execution. The attempt was, clearly, to complete the election process for the sake of doing so, even if the ultimate goal of democracy, to choose the leaders the electorate desires, is explicitly rejected.

The motives of each of the characters are a critical element here. Newton was clearly a sincere, ordinary yet idealistic young man hell-bent on perfectly carrying out his job. Malko, although idealistic and hopeful in her own way, is shown to resign to the eventual and unstoppable fate and powerfully speaks of how these elected representatives are guided by their own interests and the tribals are merely left behind. Loknath is shown to be an indifferent government official whose interests lay in English movies and writing novels, but perhaps the silliest is Shambhoo’s reason for involvement in elections- he wished to ride a helicopter. Yet, the brilliance of Masurkar’s work lies in his objectivity and portrayal of both sides of the argument. Newton’s over-honesty and pride is eventually his downfall and no character, from the protagonist to the supporting soldiers, is worshipped as perfect. The struggles of the tribal community are brought to the fore and their suffering is elucidated upon extensively. The same applies for Aatma, who may be seen in a negative light for his apathy and lack of commitment to the electoral process; however, he too, is a product of the larger system. He sheds light upon how his boys are shot due to the lack of protective equipment to fight the Maoists and calls the government aid insufficient when asked about it; also, just like the countless veterans out there, one must note the scarring past experiences.

The latter half involves powerful monologues portraying a clear disillusionment with democracy evident from a series of interviews conducted by the enamored foreign media. It seems as if the much touted, egalitarian, liberal democracy has conveniently ignored the very citizens it was meant to serve. The locals are confident that there would be simply no change irrespective of their electoral choices, quite simply because, as Malko points out, they were ‘different’. In their essence of being, interactions, laws, hierarchical systems and the general alienation by the larger majority. Newton’s stern opposition to such injustice is met by their attempts to belittle his intelligence and suppression in lieu of rank. In fact, even the DIG, upon hearing about these acts, couldn’t care less, as all that mattered to him were violations such as booth capturing, which would affect them professionally, clearly furtherance of their own interests. An elderly village headman, upon hearing that they’re voting to choose a representative, volunteers to be the representative, albeit an inconsequential effort.  Ultimately, these scenes speak of the dearth of representation in democracy, begging the question, as rightly asked by a local, what were these elections really for?

Arguably, the most impactful scene in the film is the climax. Due to sudden firing by the “Maoists”, they are forced to evacuate and end polling early, but the intelligent Newton is suspicious, due to the lack of radio communication afterwards and the general sense of ease The ridiculous act of staging such an event to end polling is revealed and this is followed by a comical chase by the military, of Newton. carrying the EVM. Eventually surrounded, he holds Aatma at gunpoint, quite ridiculously, to take the votes of passers-by. Newton’s idealism shines again, as he continues to wait for 10 minutes, till the official completion time, in an absurd scene of empty threats, ending up with him tragically beaten up by the soldiers. This thrashing, however, may not have just been physically, but mentally too, as the movie ends with Newton blurring into the vast expanse of ineffectual government workers who have learned to accept their reality.

The themes of the film have significant implications in areas such as those of caste, party politics, citizenship and governance. The movie accurately depicts how the rural Northern tribal community is isolated and left behind in the quest for development, which can also be tied to other forms of social stratification. In fact, as Amartya Sen puts it, “The mutual reinforcement of class, caste, gender and other inequalities has been particularly strong in the northern heartland, and is quite possibly an important clue to the tendency of that region to lag behind the rest of the country in many respects.”To conclude, it is a combination of phenomenal performances, a simple yet powerful storyline and the bold tackling of social challenges that makes Newton such an impeccable watch. The intent can be concluded from a powerful line by Malko-“great things aren’t accomplished in a day. Even the jungle takes years to grow.” But Newton isn’t trying to grow a jungle. What he is trying to establish in its heart is the India outside the jungle, eager to uproot what exists there and seed itself in its place.

Author’s Bio

Akshath Indusekhar is currently pursuing his third-year, B.A. LLB at the Jindal Global Law School. His areas of interest include public international law, corporate/commercial law, international trade law, and investor-state arbitration, with international moot court experience and research experience to that effect.

Image Source: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNWRlMDIzYTEtMDRkZS00NDEwLTliYmEtZWY0M2YyODIyMGE0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODMyODMxNDY@._V1_.jpg