Newton (Rajkummar Rao) is sent off for election duty in a Naxal- heavy area. He is an honest and idealist person. But his idealism is his limitations as well. In Dandakaranya, he meets a sharp but little ill-tempered commander Aatma Singh (Pankaj Tripathi). From the moment, Newton and his fellow officers Loknath (Raghubir Yadav) and Shamboo land in the location, there is friction. A local booth-level officer Malko (Anjali Patil) joins them there. Newton is honest and he wants a fair election. But how does it matter when things won’t change? how does it matter when the locals don’t have a clear idea about the candidates?
When Newton tries to tell an officer how the entire day of voting didn’t make sense, Officer asks him “was there any instance of fake voting”? U will end up feeling for the character Newton but he is also guilty of such a situation. He is at-the-end ” by-the-book-idealist”. And here lies the brilliance of the script. In one scene, Malko (Anjali Patil) tells Newton ” The history of the jungle is older than the history of democracy”. Loknath (Raghubir Yadav) is an adjusting ever-practical public. He is also a writer. Aatma Singh (Pankaj Tripathi) tells Newton that no one cares about the election. He is only concerned about finishing the voting process early. I did like the slow-paced narrative in the first half. U will wait for something to happen but ultimately nothing happens. This isn’t a radical film as such. It makes a mockery of democracy, state, and the lead character but it refuses to take any stand. I did like the melodramatic approach at the ending. It was needed to make Newton look ridiculous. Rajkummar Rao is brilliant as the main protagonist of this film. It was good to see Raghubir Yadav getting a good role after a long time. I have always been his fan. He is such a natural actor. Anjali Patil was brilliant in the role of a local officer. But the best performer in the film is Pankaj Tripathi. Tripathi is such a brilliant actor that his mere presence brings a character alive on screen.
debarshithecinemaniac 