'Newton' remains one of India's finest films: Hansal Mehta
Mumbai
December 15, 2017
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has always lent unrelenting
support his blue-eyed boy Rajkummar Rao's "Newton" -- even when it was caught in
a plagiarism row. Now when the movie has missed the Oscar race, he says it
doesn't change the fact that it is one of India's finest films.
Mehta
claimed he was trolled after "Newton" was ousted from the Best Foreign Language
Film category at the Oscars 2018.
"Am tempted to use unparliamentary
language with all those who are rejoicing and trolling me on the fact that
'Newton' did not make it to the Oscars. Oscars or no Oscars, it remains one of
the finest films made in our country in a long time," Mehta tweeted on Friday.
"Newton", directed by Amit V. Masurkar, features Rajkummar, Pankaj Tripathi
and Raghubir Yadav. It revolves around a government employee who struggles to
supervise voting in a forest area of Chhattisgarh, controlled by Maoists.
When the film was chosen as India's Oscar entry by the Film Federation of
India, there was buzz that it was inspired by a 2001 Iranian movie titled
"Secret Ballot".
At that time, Mehta, who has worked closely with
Rajkummar on award-winning films like "Shahid" and "CityLights", had spoken out
in favour of the "Newton" team.
Mehta's latest Twitter post on Friday
found support from filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who retweeted it. Kashyap had
contacted "Secret Ballot" producer Marco Mueller to take his feedback on the
similarities.
"There is not even a hint of plagiarisation," Mueller had
told him.
"A Fantastic Woman" (Chile), "In the Fade" (Germany), "On Body
and Soula (Hungary), "Foxtrot" (Israel), "The Insult" (Lebanon), "Loveless"
(Russia), "Felicite" (Senegal), "The Wound" (South Africa) and "The Square"
(Sweden) have made the shortlist in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Mumbai
December 15, 2017
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has always lent unrelenting
support his blue-eyed boy Rajkummar Rao's "Newton" -- even when it was caught in
a plagiarism row. Now when the movie has missed the Oscar race, he says it
doesn't change the fact that it is one of India's finest films.
Mehta
claimed he was trolled after "Newton" was ousted from the Best Foreign Language
Film category at the Oscars 2018.
"Am tempted to use unparliamentary
language with all those who are rejoicing and trolling me on the fact that
'Newton' did not make it to the Oscars. Oscars or no Oscars, it remains one of
the finest films made in our country in a long time," Mehta tweeted on Friday.
"Newton", directed by Amit V. Masurkar, features Rajkummar, Pankaj Tripathi
and Raghubir Yadav. It revolves around a government employee who struggles to
supervise voting in a forest area of Chhattisgarh, controlled by Maoists.
When the film was chosen as India's Oscar entry by the Film Federation of
India, there was buzz that it was inspired by a 2001 Iranian movie titled
"Secret Ballot".
At that time, Mehta, who has worked closely with
Rajkummar on award-winning films like "Shahid" and "CityLights", had spoken out
in favour of the "Newton" team.
Mehta's latest Twitter post on Friday
found support from filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who retweeted it. Kashyap had
contacted "Secret Ballot" producer Marco Mueller to take his feedback on the
similarities.
"There is not even a hint of plagiarisation," Mueller had
told him.
"A Fantastic Woman" (Chile), "In the Fade" (Germany), "On Body
and Soula (Hungary), "Foxtrot" (Israel), "The Insult" (Lebanon), "Loveless"
(Russia), "Felicite" (Senegal), "The Wound" (South Africa) and "The Square"
(Sweden) have made the shortlist in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Tags: Hansal MehtaRajkummar RaoRaghubir YadavPankaj TripathiNewton