Newton is a commercial film: Amit Masurkar
Amit Masurkar’s film, Newton, recently won the National Award in the Best Hindi Film section. At an event, the filmmaker was asked if he is open to do typical commercial masala films, as Newton was considered an offbeat or art house film. Masurkar, however, believes it was a commercial project.
He explains, “Commercial films are those which people watch in theatres. So, I’d say that Newton was one because people did see it in theatres and they connected with it.”
Sharing his views further on masala films, he said: “I don’t know about the word ‘masala’ as that terminology keeps changing with time. What you call masala films in the 1980s are not the same from the ones in the 1990s... I think if you make a good film, it automatically becomes commercial.”
Newton revolves around a young government clerk, who is sent on election duty to a Maoist-controlled town. It portrays how the ideological struggle puts him in an awkward situation.
The film was also selected as India’s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Oscars 2018, but did not make it to the final shortlist. “In the Oscar awards, countries from all over the world send their best film so there is a tough competition. We tried, but we were not able to win there. We are [however] happy that we reached that platform,” says Masurkar.
All praise for the film’s lead actor Rajkummar Rao, the filmmaker also said that Rajkummar should have been awarded something. “He did a brilliant job, not just in Newton but also in films like Trapped and Bareilly Ki Barfi. He did a lot of good work last year.”
Actor Pankaj Tripathi won a Special Mention at the 65th National Film Awards for his performance in the film.