The list includes Rajkummar Rao’s ‘Newton’ and ‘Trapped’, ‘Tumhari Sulu’ and ‘Mukti Bhawan’.
Newton Amit Masurkar’s very funny and very angry movie was 2017’s most politically astute release. Located in the chasm between idealism and reality, Newton examined the workings of Indian democracy through a principled government official (Rajkummar Rao) who set out to conduct a peaceful election in violence-ravaged Chhattisgarh. Masurkar and co-writer Mayank Tewari eschewed high drama and a didactic approach, instead opting for a view from the ground up of the exertions and patience involved in ensuring smooth polling. Was the exercise worth it, especially for the tribals squeezed between the police, Naxalites, and corporations? The impeccably performed movie, with standout performances by Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil and Raghubir Yadav, was cynical as well as hopeful.
Trapped Vikramaditya Motwane’s Mumbai movie was a counterpoint to the sun-soaked optimism of Tu Hai Mera Sunday. Beautifully shot by Siddharth Diwan, the movie explored every Mumbai resident’s deepest nightmare – of being locked in without escape – to create a hellish portrait of alienation and despair. As the trapped Shaurya, who befriended rats and roaches to keep himself sane, Rajkummar Rao delivered one of the year’s finest performances.
Tumhari Sulu Suresh Triveni’s debut proved to be the balm for a wounded heart in a depression-inducing year. As a housewife who sought to enhance her minor achievements (including winning the Lata Mangeshkar sad song contest) by becoming a radio jockey, Vidya Balan delivered the best performance of her career. Triveni and co-writer Vijay Maurya (who also had a delightful role as a producer who doubts Sulu’s abilities) created several memorable moments of comedy, honesty, and poignancy as Sulu’s marriage teetered after her newfound success.
Mukti Bhawan In Shubhashish Bhutiani’s skillfully plotted and solidly performed movie, a government official (Adil Hussain) accompanied his father (Lalit Behl) to a makeshift hospice in Varanasi where the father hoped death would claim him. A moving drama about frayed family ties and weighty questions about death and mortality, Mukti Bhawan marked Bhutiani as a director of promise.
