by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Bollywood film "Newton" is India's official entry in the Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Oscars, Film Federation of India said Friday.
A 14-member jury chose Newton out of a field of 25 films short-listed as possible contenders.
"An eminent 14 member jury constituted by Film Federation of India comprising of an eclectic mix of film professionals from various crafts and languages under the astute chairmanship of eminent film personality C V Reddy selected the Hindi film Newton to represent India at the Academy Awards in the best foreign film category," Anindya Dasgupta, deputy secretary film federation of India said in a statement.
"The jury saw wide range of films (26 in all) that had entered from various Indian languages before deliberating long and hard to reach a decision by consensus."
Indian film entries have a poor track record of making it to the top five in the Foreign Film category at Oscars.
The Film Federation of India is responsible for nominating Indian films for the Oscars. It is an apex body of the Indian film producers, distributors, exhibitors and studio owners.
Rajkummar Rao, who played the lead role in the film took to twitter to share the news.
"Very happy to share this news that Newton is India's official entry to the Oscars this year. Congratulations team," Rao wrote on twitter.
Newton hit screens on Friday. The film is about a government clerk sent on election duty to a naxal-controlled town in the conflict-ridden jungles of central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Faced with the apathy of security forces and the looming fear of guerrilla attacks by Naxals, he tries his best to conduct free and fair voting despite odds.
India's top Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan described the Newton as an eye opener.
"Saw the film 'Newton'... its stark reality was a treat to watch! An eye opener, on many aspects," wrote Bachchan on twitter.
In 2001, an Indian nomination and global blockbuster Lagaan (Tax), starring Aamir Khan, made it to the top five at Oscars.
India's film industry in terms of revenue has gross box office realizations of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars. The industry employs nearly 6 million people.
