Early in Amit V Masurkar’s Newton, a senior government officer (Sanjay Mishra) tells a young, honest colleague, Newton Kumar (Rajkummar Rao), the gravity of his name over a cup of tea. “Newton proved to the world that if an Ambani and this chaiwala fall from a mountain at the same time, they will land on the ground at the same time.” What he misses to tell the post graduate in Physics is that there is something called parachute which can easily subvert this law of ‘equality’. And during the course of 90 odds minutes, Newton discovers these ‘parachutes’ that help the rich and powerful corrupt the biggest festival in the democracy.
During a conversation before the release of the satire, the young director, who emerged on the scene with the immensely likeable Sulemani Keeda said that he wanted to make a political film and found it strange that in the largest democracy in the world hardly any film had been made on the election process inside the polling booth. “While doing our research, we discovered what a huge logistical exercise a general election is. We have around 814 million voters. It is more than the population of Europe. Some of the best brains from the administrative service work on it. They plan it so well....” And they don’t flaunt it, one interrupts. “Yes, the statistics never cease to amaze you. It is the success of the electoral process that the governments change. Keeping the Election Commission neutral is, in itself, a big miracle.”
Amit said had it been set in Mumbai or Delhi, it would not have been a story. “We set in Chhattisgarh so that we could bring in Maoists who are opposed to elections. This creates conflict and if in this situation an idealistic government officer, who only does his duty, comes into the fray, it naturally lends itself to a compelling story.”
As a counter to Newton, the film has a pragmatic deputy commandant of a paramilitary force in the form of Atma Ram, who advises Newton not to undertake the process in the dangerous zone where there are only 70 odd votes. “See, Newton and Atma Ram don’t represent the organisations as a whole. They are two individuals with their quirks. Atma Ram is also there to do his job. He wants to protect his patrolling party and finds Newton a little too upright. And as Newton is younger to him, Atma Ram tries to ‘advise’ him, leading to an ego clash which lends itself to humorous situations.”
The gaze
Talking about his gaze in dealing with the politically sensitive subject, Amit said he entered the jungle with Newton as an outsider and followed him. “It could not be anything else. The film is neither judgemental nor it is preachy. It is not about whether democracy works or communism works. It is just the story of a government official who is doing his duty. And he would have done it in any system he was part of,” he underlined.
However, Amit did discover that the situation is not as black and white as many would want us to believe. “It is about greed. There are entities which thrive on this conflict. They want to keep the conflict alive because it allows them to keep doing their work behind a façade. Whatever information they want to give out, they give, and we believe it. For instance, there is illegal mining and timber cutting going on in these areas. The person who controls them won’t like the other contractors to come into the fray. So he might use the conflict to his advantage. It is a grey zone.” In this situation, he added maintaining the sanctity of election process becomes all the more important.
Shot in Dalli Rajhra area of Chhattisgarh with the help of local government, Amit said it was a learning curve for all the departments in his team. “As part of the research we met all the stakeholders and it enriched the story. The art department had to create a voting machine. We had to create a school and and village in the area. As we shot without lights, it was a challenge for the cinematographer.” Reflecting on possible governmental intervention, Amit said he lived in a democracy and was free to make any film he wanted. “We did submit the script as it is part of the procedure but I don’t know whether somebody read it or not.”
On the takeaways, Amit, who has travelled with the film to some of the most prestigious film festivals, said, “It meant different things to different people. In the U.S., audience linked it to election malpractices; in Hong Kong audience identified it with their fight for democracy and in Germany people associated it with disenfranchisement and Syrian refugee crises.”
Wake up call
And in India? “I have yet to get a response but I have made it for Indian audience. The idea was not just to travel with it to film festivals. If you notice, Hollywood is eating into our market. Recently, It made more money than the Bollywood films released that week. It is a wake up call for Bollywood filmmakers.” Does he consider himself one. “Of course, I have worked with mainstream actors. It is not a ₹1-2 crore film. Around 8.5 crore rupees have already been spent. It is a big risk for the producer. I believe in trusting the audience. Ninety percent of our films flop because we keep offering the ‘regular’ stuff. You push the envelope and leave the rest to the audience.”
Well, if the percentage of people who vote in elections turn up for Newton, it will sail through. “In that case, it will be a Dangal!” exclaimed Amit. With positive word of mouth and news of Newton going to Oscars as the Indian entry in Best Foreign Language film category adding to the buzz, it seems Amit will not lose his deposit at the hustings.