T 2554 - Saw the film 'NEWTON' .. its stark reality was a treat to watch ! An eye opener .. on many aspects .. !! pic.twitter.com/zyeuDUPxiz — Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) September 21, 2017



Thank you so much sir. We all are so grateful for your love & support. Keep inspiring us with ur amazing performances. Charan Sparsh. https://t.co/7TB5Si49fJ — Rajkummar Rao (@RajkummarRao) September 22, 2017

The race to Oscars 2018 has begun. And India, too, has finalised its entry.Yes, it's official now that Amit Masurkar 's ' Newton ' will be the Indian entry at the Oscars next year.The Film Federation Of India (FFI), in an official statement on Friday confirmed the nomination.The Hindi movie was the unanimous choice of FFI's selection committee, headed by Telugu producer C V Reddy."'Newton' has been selected as India's official entry to the Oscars. It was unanimously chosen from 26 entries this year," FFI secretary general Supran Sen said.The National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao plays the lead in this indie drama. The film also stars Anjali Patil, Pankaj Tripathi and veteran thespian Raghubir Yadav of 'Mungeri Lal' fame.The decision to choose the film, which was released commercially today, for the Oscars was the proverbial "cherry on the cake", said actor Rao. "It is a really honest film and we are already getting an overwhelming response. We will put all our energies to take the film forward," he added.The movie is a telling commentary of contemporary times, and portrays an idealistic government clerk who is trying to survive the apathy, lethargy and corruption around him. The film is a political satire revolving around an honest election officer's attempt to conduct a free and fair poll in a conflict-hit area of Chhatisgarh.The director expressed his happiness, calling it a double celebration for the team. "We are really happy. The fact that the film is releasing today doubles the happiness. We hope that people will now really head to the cinema halls to watch the film," he shared."Newton" is Masurkar's second directorial venture after the 2014 indie "Sulemani Keeda".Meanwhile, the film is also winning Bollywood hearts on Twitter. Actor Amitabh Bachchan was one of the first to laud the film."Saw the film 'Newton'... its stark reality was a treat to watch ! An eye opener on many aspects!" he tweeted.Rao thanked Bachchan for his message. "Thank you so much sir. We all are so grateful for your love & support. Keep inspiring us with ur amazing performances. Charan Sparsh."Last year, the Tamil film 'Visaranai' made it to Oscars' Foreign Language Film category, but it failed to earn the coveted spot.(With inputs from PTI)