Revisiting a definitive - 5
Today we revisit the delightful 2017 gem from Amit Masrurkar, Newton. Upon it's release then, the film garnered a lot of critical acclaim and it was indeed a delight to watch this film then and now. The context was topical, an extremely well thought of casting (even characters with 2-3 lines had so much depth) and finally it falls into the genre of black comedy, that makes Newton so enjoyable to watch.
Newton to me is an out and out Pankaj Tripathi film, followed by Raghubir Yadav and then Rajkumar Rao. A lot of people might rank it the other way round but to me its Pankaj right at the top. He is spot on and every bit of his moment and presence are gilt edged. Infact, he complements the sullenness of Rajkumar' character so well. His opening lines where he enquires the visiting entourage about their preference for eggs is awesome. There are several such moments in the film which are so well cut out. Raghubir Yadav being the genius and such an underrated character comes out with the best of the lines and his Zombie moments stand out. His chemistry with the character of Mukesh Prajapati (Shambhu) is brilliant.
Newton's location makes the film so intricate in the setting and it must be given hands down to the vision of the director and the production team. The context of the film and the gravity of the subject line gets even more pronounced with the location. Its haunting and beautiful and romantic yet it has its dangers.
The film set as a black comedy indeed has some amazing lines to reinforce the genre. Every character here have their moments and perhaps it is the poor protagonist who is left to the mercy of such sarcasm and jeer. Well, that's how life is and that's how one builds up a scene. To me the best lines went to Pankaj Tripathi and especially the time he reinforces the importance of rules through the mathematical formula of BODMAS is simply superb.
Music, unlike the typical Hindi film where most of it is hyperbole here plays a subdued role and has the context set in the right place.
Newton remains an absolute gem and should be on a must see list for film connoisseurs. It is topical and as film it ridicule's the iconoclast in a subline sense, which makes it so immersing to watch.
Its is on Amazon Prime. Go Watch
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