India's official Oscars entry: Things to know about Rajkummar Rao's Newton

Rajkummar Rao seems to be back on the big screen with a bang! Newton, where he plays the protagonist is India’s official entry to the Oscars 2018 in the Best Foreign Film language category. This political satire, set against the background of elections, released on Friday, and it has been receiving oodles of appreciation all over. It's not just the audience but also the critics who are singing praises of the movie. 
 

Delighted, actor Rajkummar Rao took to Twitter to announce the news. Here’s what he posted:

Directed by Amit Masurkar, Newton was chosen from among 26 titles from different languages by a 14-member jury appointed by the Film Federation of India (FFI).

The background
 

‘Newton’ is a dark comedy produced by Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films, best known for backing critically acclaimed projects like ‘Masaan’ and ‘Umrika’. The movie is a political lampoon starring Pankaj Tripathi, Raghubir Yadav and Anjali Patil, besides Rao. It builds conversations on the many 'defects' in India's political and electoral system. 
 

Also read: Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton is India's official entry to Oscars 2018

The plot 
 

The movie revolves around a novice government clerk sent on election duty to a Maoist-controlled town and how an ideological confusion puts him in a spot. There are guerrilla attacks and security forces are droopy. Despite these, the protagonist tries his best to conduct free and rational voting.

Box office collections
 

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted the Saturday box-office collection figures:
 

India’s journey at the Oscars so far
 

So far, "Mother India", "Salaam Bombay!" and "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" are the only Indian films that made it to the top five in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars, but none won the award. So, hopes are high on ‘Newton’, Masurkar's second directorial venture after the 2014 indie "Sulemani Keeda". The 90th Academy Awards are scheduled for March 4, 2018, in Los Angeles.

Appreciations on social media

As soon as the news of Rao's 'Newton' being India's official entry to the Oscars 2018 spread, social media was flooded with congratulatory messages. Bollywood stars like Amiatbh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Anil Kapoor, Karan Johar Alia Bhatt, among others, sent their wishes through the microblogging site Twitter.

Audiences also could not keep their calm and swamped Twitter with posts. Take a look: