There are a few similarities between the two films.
Newton, which is India’s Oscar entry, is allegedly inspired from the Iranian film Secret Ballot. There are a few similarities between the two films. Both movies deal with the premise of voting day in the remote area of a state and have an honest protagonist who wants to ensure smooth election and is challenged by the conditions and officials.
Global recognition
However, director Amit Masurkar defends his film, which has garnered massive critical acclaim. He says, “The film has travelled to all international film festivals and has been awarded, if it were a copy do you think this would have happened? All these allegations have begun when it landed in India. I don’t even know about the film or the story of Secret Ballot.” I have just watched a little bit of it after people starting talking about the similarities in the two films.”
He adds, “In gangster films, there is always someone’s death in family that has led to the story of the gangster and there are honest officers everywhere. As for my film, it is an original story and is rooted in Chattisgarh. I didn’t even know that there was a film like Secret Ballot when we worked on our film.’’
Ready for Oscars
But what does Film Federation of India (FFI), which picks the Oscar entry from the movies made in the country, have to say about the debate on the film being similar to Secret Ballot? Will it reconsider its decision? FFI President CV Reddy says, “How can I tell you anything as I have not watched both the films?’’
Another FFI member feels that many films made by stalwarts were inspired from other films, so this issue isn’t of much contention. The requirement as per FFI rules is that the film has to be released before September 30, 2017. Also, a draft of `50,000 has to be submitted and the film needs to have English subtitles. The FFI member says, “Anyone who meets these criteria can submit their movie. There are no rules about the subject or originality of the film.’’
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