Newton, which featured Rajkummar Rao in the lead, released in September 2017.
A Delhi court has postponed hearing in the case against Bollywood movie Newton for July 19, 2018 for pre-summoning evidence of the complainant.
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sub-Inspector Tamal Sanyal has filed the criminal complaint and civil defamation case and sought direction to Manish Mundra, producer of the movie, and Shiladitya Bora, the CEO of production company Drishyam Films, to tender an unconditional public apology and compensate the complainant, and the CRPF.
Sanyal has sought deletion of scenes allegedly portraying the CRPF in a bad light and its re-release.
He alleged that false and baseless imputations were made by the makers with the sole mala fide intention to injure and harm the image of a prime central paramilitary force of the country.
The ‘National Coordination Committee’, an umbrella organisation of multiple organizations of retired paramilitary personnel and officers, has also filed an application for impleading in the case.
Newton revolves around a rookie but idealistic election officer as he struggles to hold elections in a Chhattisgarh village despite the threat of Naxalite violence. It was India’s official entry for the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category last year. Newton, which was led by Rajkummar Rao, also featured Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil and Raghubir Yadav in pivotal roles.
The film, which hit the theatres in September 2017, has garnered praise from both the audience and critics. The film has also won several awards including National Film Awards, Filmfare and Star Screen awards among others. Rajkummar Rao, who was hailed for his stellar performance in the comedy-drama, has bagged several awards for his portrayal of Newton Kumar in the film.
Apart from the recent legal action against the film, Newton faced controversies soon after its release. The film was accused of plagiarism owing to its striking similarities with an Iranian film Secret Ballot.