Rajkumar Rao’s 'Newton' is India’s official Oscar entry

Actor talks success of latest release and his journey through Bollywood

National-Award winning actor Rajkummar Rao's latest release Newton is India's official entry for Academy Awards in 2018, reported IANS. Popular American TV host Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the Academy Awards in 2018. This will be the 90th edition of the prestigious awards, to be held on March 4.

An excited Rajkummar, on Friday, took to Twitter to announce the news. "Very happy to share this news that Newton is India's official entry to the Oscars this year. Congratulations team," he tweeted.

Very happy to share this news that #NEWTON is India's official entry to the #OSCARS this year. Congratulations team.

— Rajkummar Rao (@RajkummarRao) September 22, 2017

Film-maker Hansal Mehta, who is a good friend of Rajkummar’s and has previously collaborated with him for films like Shahid and Aligarh, took to Twitter to express his happiness as well, and said that Newton is the best choice. "Newton is India's entry to the Oscars. The best choice in years by the federation," Mehta tweeted.

The director also added, "If films like A Separation and Children of Heaven made it to the Oscar nominations, so can Newton. It is our best shot. Manish Mundra, go for it!"

Newton revolves around a young government clerk who is sent on election duty to a Maoist-controlled town and how the ideological struggle puts him in an awkward situation.

Directed by Amit Masurkar, Newton released on Friday. The film is produced by Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films, the company best known for backing critically-acclaimed projects such as Masaan and Umrika.



Rajkumar, who made his Bollywood debut with the 2010 film Love Sex Aur Dhokha, claims that that earlier on in his career, it was all just about looking for his next movie. But now, it is about choosing the best story. "Nothing much has changed in me as an actor. Since the day I started out, I always wanted to be part of good stories. The only thing that has changed is, now I have options of good stories to choose from," Times of India quoted the 33-year-old actor as saying. "Earlier on, it was just to get an opportunity to get there. Earlier, it was more of looking for my next film, now it is about choosing the best."

Rajkummar will soon be seen in other projects like Love Sonia, 5Weddings, Ittefaq: It Happened One Night and Fanney Khan. He has already worked with popular directors like Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, Hansal Mehta and Vikramaditya Motwane. Who are the other film-makers he wants to work with?

"That's too tough to answer because the list is long. I want to work with Darren Aronofsky, Damien Chazelle, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and, of course, Majid Majidi. I told you the list is long," replied the star.
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