This is an off beat kind of movie tending towards art cinema . And sure enough , the cast assembled to act in the movie is the staple for art films located in the rustic parts of India . The ever present Pankaj Tripathi is there ; which movie filmed in the mofussil parts of India would be complete without him ? And we have Raghubir Yadav and Sanjay Mishra too---both adept at playing small town characters . And is Anjali Patil being groomed to become the next Smita Patil---the doyen of Indian art cinema in the 70s and 80s ? Anjali was there in 'Chakravyuha' and 'Sameer' and is again in this film---all films showcasing leftist causes .
The hero of the film is Raj kumar Rao . He plays an impossibly honest man ; refuses the proposal of a girl's family because the girl is not yet 18 even though she is ready for marriage ; is thorough in his preparation for even the most unimportant task ; asks the most naive questions to the character played by Sanjay Mishra who is teaching him to be a polling officer ; and is punctual for every job and situation . His real name is Nutan Kumar , but he changes it to 'Newton' because Nutan sounds too feminine .
He is the reserve polling officer for an election , but the assigned polling officer refuses to serve in the region allocated to him because it is Chhattisgarh---the heart of maoist rebellion in India , where life and limb is not safe ; indeed the film starts with the murder of a political leader by maoist rebels in that region . So Newton volunteers and is whisked by helicopter to the heart of danger---the maoist affected district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh . A jungle region where there are as many snakes and scorpions as there are maoist rebels . Where it is safer to not wear a bullet proof jacket than is is to wear one because any person wearing it is thought to be a government agent and likely to be shot at be the rebels .
In fact , so dangerous is the region thought to be that the security officer of that area ( Pankaj Tripathi playing Aatma Singh ) says that it is better not to go to the actual voting site that is 8 kilometres away . But Newton is too much of a stickler to the rules and forces the whole group to go there , using his powers as presiding officer . With them also comes a school teacher named Malko ( Anjali Patil ) , who is a local who speaks hindi but also can communicate with the tribals in their language because she is one of them .
After they reach the ramshackle election booth , no one turns up for voting because the elections have no meaning for these poor tribals who are sandwiched between the security forces of the government on one side and the maoist rebels on the other . Enthusiasm for bringing them to vote is awoken only when a western english speaking female journalist is coming to cover the whole event . But the police officer bringing her is disappointed that she does not have blonde hair !!
Forget western blondes ; I was hoping to see the petite Miss Malko and the honest Mr Newton strike up some kind of romance....after all , the romantic in me wanted to see some love in a film even though it is arthouse stuff . And they did strike a rapport towards the end of the film , kindling hopes for the start of a relationship ; I am keeping my fingers crossed....
But where were the expected stars of the film ?---The maoists who else ? And when were they going to make their appearance ?
Sure enough , firing is heard from all sides late in the afternoon . And this forces pack up of the voting booth . But at the end of it all is a twist . And that twist really tells us as to how much of a committed person is Mr Newton to his sticking to rules and to honesty....
The film tries to be neutral but it's director's heart is leftist ; numerous scenes show the security forces treating the tribals with contempt , even though Aatma Singh tries to be fair to the extent possible with them . And the tribals would like their own man to present their problems in Delhi but his name is not in the voting list . Many twists and turns occur in the film and keep us interested , but Newton's unique reaction to each twist and turn is what makes watching of the film special .
The heart of the film lies in Rajkumar's acting ; he is so earnest in his role that he lifts the film completely . Others are all good too in their respective roles . Photography is okay , background music is decent though I remember hearing only one song , colours are okay . Above all , the people and sights and sounds and the conditions of the maoist infested regions are pictured perfectly .
Verdict---four stars out of five .
The hero of the film is Raj kumar Rao . He plays an impossibly honest man ; refuses the proposal of a girl's family because the girl is not yet 18 even though she is ready for marriage ; is thorough in his preparation for even the most unimportant task ; asks the most naive questions to the character played by Sanjay Mishra who is teaching him to be a polling officer ; and is punctual for every job and situation . His real name is Nutan Kumar , but he changes it to 'Newton' because Nutan sounds too feminine .
He is the reserve polling officer for an election , but the assigned polling officer refuses to serve in the region allocated to him because it is Chhattisgarh---the heart of maoist rebellion in India , where life and limb is not safe ; indeed the film starts with the murder of a political leader by maoist rebels in that region . So Newton volunteers and is whisked by helicopter to the heart of danger---the maoist affected district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh . A jungle region where there are as many snakes and scorpions as there are maoist rebels . Where it is safer to not wear a bullet proof jacket than is is to wear one because any person wearing it is thought to be a government agent and likely to be shot at be the rebels .
In fact , so dangerous is the region thought to be that the security officer of that area ( Pankaj Tripathi playing Aatma Singh ) says that it is better not to go to the actual voting site that is 8 kilometres away . But Newton is too much of a stickler to the rules and forces the whole group to go there , using his powers as presiding officer . With them also comes a school teacher named Malko ( Anjali Patil ) , who is a local who speaks hindi but also can communicate with the tribals in their language because she is one of them .
After they reach the ramshackle election booth , no one turns up for voting because the elections have no meaning for these poor tribals who are sandwiched between the security forces of the government on one side and the maoist rebels on the other . Enthusiasm for bringing them to vote is awoken only when a western english speaking female journalist is coming to cover the whole event . But the police officer bringing her is disappointed that she does not have blonde hair !!
Forget western blondes ; I was hoping to see the petite Miss Malko and the honest Mr Newton strike up some kind of romance....after all , the romantic in me wanted to see some love in a film even though it is arthouse stuff . And they did strike a rapport towards the end of the film , kindling hopes for the start of a relationship ; I am keeping my fingers crossed....
But where were the expected stars of the film ?---The maoists who else ? And when were they going to make their appearance ?
Sure enough , firing is heard from all sides late in the afternoon . And this forces pack up of the voting booth . But at the end of it all is a twist . And that twist really tells us as to how much of a committed person is Mr Newton to his sticking to rules and to honesty....
The film tries to be neutral but it's director's heart is leftist ; numerous scenes show the security forces treating the tribals with contempt , even though Aatma Singh tries to be fair to the extent possible with them . And the tribals would like their own man to present their problems in Delhi but his name is not in the voting list . Many twists and turns occur in the film and keep us interested , but Newton's unique reaction to each twist and turn is what makes watching of the film special .
The heart of the film lies in Rajkumar's acting ; he is so earnest in his role that he lifts the film completely . Others are all good too in their respective roles . Photography is okay , background music is decent though I remember hearing only one song , colours are okay . Above all , the people and sights and sounds and the conditions of the maoist infested regions are pictured perfectly .
Verdict---four stars out of five .
