Newton wins Best Hindi Film at 65th National Awards

New Delhi April 13 (IANS) Amit Masurkar s "Newton" won the Best Hindi Film honour and actor Pankaj Tripathi who was part of it won a Special Mention for his performance at the 65th National Film Awards here on Friday.

Produced by Manish Mundra and starring Rajkummar Rao the film 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 shot in the interiors of Chhattisgarh.

Pankaj played Aatma Singh a cynical Central Reserve Poilce Force officer in the critically acclaimed film. It was selected as India s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Oscars 2018 but didn t make it to the final shortlist.

Jury chairperson and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur praised Pankaj s "good" performance.

He said Pankaj s performance was largely ignored by the press. Kapur felt the main character would not have been as strong without the supporting role.

--IANS
rb/in