Film Review - Hindi Movie Newton

Before I write about the movie there is an important prologue worth a consideration. If a movie like Newton is released by the Film Censors without much ado and not obstructed by the Government then it is difficult to argue that dissent is being stifled in India. The movie contains significant elements that can be viewed as dissent or criticism of government stance as well as the general public sentiment at large itself. This means - the critics of the government need to re-calibrate their views on related matters - ie., if they have any integrity and sense of responsibility.

Now for the movie. It's about an Election Presiding Officer who goes deep into Dandakaranya. This is an interesting man for you. He is an idealist and considers the modern world view and institutions in high esteem and necessary progress in life. He gets into conflict with his parents protesting their old worldly views. Obviously elections are an equivalent of religion to him and democracy is god. Quite naturally, he does not wink an eye-lid when he is chosen to go deep into Dandakaranya forest which is nothing but parts of Madhya Pradesh or Chattisgarh today where Maoists rule the roost. There is this election for 50+ people to be conducted within the deep forest. You need the flight of a helicopter to reach this place without risking your life from wild animals and Naxals. Democracy in this region can only be upheld under the watchful eyes of a small army troupe headed by a nationalist and practical army officer. Our idealist is joined by an old world election officer, a local tribal girl who has taken a step into the modern world through education and is a social worker.

A great conflict ensues. Our protagonist Newton, the practical Army officer, the invisible yet omnipresent Maoists and the hapless tribesmen play out this conflict on the ground - the grand design of this being guided by the state's ambition to conduct a free and fair election guided by the vision of democracy. The conflict has some insightful contradictions. The election officer is of good intention but does not realize that his zealous drive of democracy is resulting in forcefully bringing elections to a community which is oblivious to that grand march and seem to live comfortably withotu. His approach is almost equivalent to that of a enticed religious conversion. The army officer on the other hand is so bothered about safety and security that he overlooks how his approach is converting the whole exercise into a farce. The serious but wise tribal girl brings a lot of sense, meaning and direction to this exercise. She understands the apparent contradictions but is driven by something beyond. She is the only one who recognizes the farcical nature of the exercise but is determined to carry it on and make it more meaningful at each step. She is hopeful of a time when it completely assumes a meaning of its own. She realizes that change cannot happen in a day but agrees with the direction in which change is taking place. In the midst of all this, a confused old world Hindi author supporting the election duty goes about with his work in complete harmony with all the contradictions without least being affected by it. The whole process is just a means of earning livelihood for him which he attempts to accomplish to the best of his ability and is willing to compromise where needed to make it seem accomplished. He brings comic relief to this grand endeavor but also represents the general apathy of the world to this exercise. Anything else explained will take away the joy of watching the movie - lets leave it to live experience.

The movie has some important pluses. It reasonably portrays the farcical nature of the electoral process in such circumstances. But it carries an undertone of how this process must be made more meaningful with continued efforts. It recognizes that the tribal world can conveniently live without the modern world as well as the Maoists but recognizes the inevitability of its absorption into the modern world. But the movie is obviously sympathetic towards its protagonist the Newton. Just as Newton transformed the world through his ground breaking universal theory of gravity, the election officer represents the ground breaking equality that democracy is supposed to bring to this unequal world. Hence, if the electoral process has been reduced to farce, the responsibility for the failure lies with us for not measuring upto democracy and not whether the process is designed for the society correctly or not. Such difficult questions are beyond the consideration of the movie although it does touch upon such aspects at times. The tribesmen wonder why an election is required - they already have a Patel who is their leader and they are willing to send them to the Parliament as their representative, but Parliament has no place for the Patel. However, such intense moments are lost as they are converted into light-hearted moments portraying the innocence of the tribal people.

Where the movie fails is to portray the complex nature of the conflict. By keeping the maoists invisible it has avoided exploring an important aspect of the conflict and the resulting difficult questions that are too difficult to handle. It has also not captured the perspective of the practical army officer - merely portraying him as dealing with ground realities and helpless. Further, the nationalist perspective of the whole matter is significantly diluted or at times even caricatured in the conduct of the officer. The deeper aspect of the nature of the democracy that we need -  is altogether kept out of the movie,  may be rightly so as that would have made the movie very heavy. However, these aspects would have made the movie a classic one and in that its an opportunity that is lost. Hope, we graduate to a phase where we can ask such tough questions about the nature of polity that we require.

What is entirely disappointing is that the movie fails to present any character in depth. Once again the light-hearted aspect of the movie is the culprit. Some amount of laugh in the theatre could have been traded for intense experience that audience took away with it . This is a bit tragic as the movie denies itself an easier direction in which it could have been a classic. 

I must make a mention of acting. This may turn out to be Rajkumar Rao's most popular movie. But the movie is no challenge for him at all. He was so powerful even in that short cameo in the movie Queen. His national award winning performances are far more superior. Raghuveer Yadav is wasted in the role of the old world officer. The role has been ridiculously caricatured and does not serve any purpose apart from providing a comic relief to both the election party within the movie and to the audiences watching the movie. In the end, the movie belongs to Pankaj Tripathi who steals the show as the army officer. He comes across as humane, tough, unreasonable, professional, sensitive, caring, ruthless all at once and with ease. Anjali Patil as the educated tribal girl has done an outstanding job as well. She is perfectly cast in the role and the audience will carry her home as a sensitivity that they need to nurture in order to be meaningful in this massive transition unleashed from which there is no backing for any of us. They are the find of this movie and we will see them in many future roles. For Pankaj this could be what Kahaani was for Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

In the end it is a good movie. But it is not as great as it is being made out. It is certainly an honest attempt to showcase an aspect of life that is uncharted for most of us but essential for us to appreciate if we have to make democracy meaninful for all sections of the society. Its light-hearted probably to achieve an easy connect with a larger audience. But I am not sure if the movie achieves that yet because its narrative is different at difference times, confusing the common movie goer. Given its Oscar nomination people have a Lagaan like expectation. While the movie is better than Lagaan it's not as good as Lunch Box. What the movie could have easily achieved is an End with a greater impact. The End is too abrupt. The abrupt end in itself would not have been a handicap if it were atleast intense. The End does not sufficiently lead a general audience into a comprehensible future. 

Nevertheless, the movie is a great addition to the ever growing good Hindi movies. This must be the best time for an experimental movie maker in Hindi and the Hindi film audience as well. The movie is a hilarious take on a serious aspect of our life. It is sensitive, empathetic yet dissenting. It is this kind of responsible dissent that one looks forward to. Not the kind of shrill, abusing, intimidating, contemptuous, ranting and shouting that the intellectuals, academicians and media has over-indulged in. It is this kind of expression that the right wing should engage with without invoking its outrage. Let the great dialogue and engagement begin again. 

Welcome Amit Masurkar - the young director of Newton.