Bollywood film ‘Newton’ is India’s official entry in the Foreign Language Film category at the 2018 Oscars.

Rajkummar Rao, who played the lead role in ‘Newton’, took to Twitter to share the news. He said, “Very happy to share this news that NEWTON is India’s official entry to the OSCARS this year. Congratulations team.”

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. It also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Raghubir Yadav and Anjali Patil.

Talking to indianexpress.com, Rajkummar said, “I am elated and super thrilled. The kind of response we are getting for the film in India is so good and now, an Oscar submission, it’s huge. I am very happy to represent India at Oscars. I hope the film makes it to the final list. But right now, I am very happy because we made the movie with a lot of passion, sincerity and honesty, and people are recognising that sincerity.”

“It’s a huge thing that people are loving the film here because we didn’t make a big, commercial, masala entertainer. The power of the film is its story and the way it has been told. The credit goes to the team, which didn’t compromise on the story. It’s a very pure, simple and sweetly told film,” added the ‘Newton’ actor.

Newton ‘director’ Amit Masurkar, who is very happy with this development, said, “The timing is so perfect. I can’t believe it. The film hits the screens today, and today is the announcement for Oscars. I just hope more people come to watch the film now. We are a 70-year-old democracy, and I am glad that with this film we could focus on the need to strengthen our democracy. It is important because there are people who are not treated at par with the rest of the country. This will help the general movie going audience also realise that this is an issue we need to address.”