National Film Awards 2018: Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton wins Best Hindi Film; Special Mention for Pankaj Tripathi

New Delhi: Amit Masurkar's _Newton_ won the Best Hindi Film honour and actor Pankaj Tripathi, who was part of it, won a Special Mention for his performance at the 65th National Film Awards on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_4299483” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Pankaj Tripathi and Rajkummar Rao in a still from Newton. Image from Twitter/@kaalicharan[/caption] Produced by Manish Mundra and starring Rajkummar Rao, the film revolves around a young government clerk, who is sent on election duty to a Maoist-controlled town. It portrays how the ideological struggle puts him in an awkward situation. The film was shot in the interiors of Chhattisgarh. Pankaj played Aatma Singh, a cynical Central Reserve Police Force officer, in the critically acclaimed film. It was selected as India’s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Oscars 2018, but did not make it to the final shortlist. Jury chairperson and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur praised Pankaj’s “good” performance. He said Pankaj’s performance was largely ignored by the press. Kapur felt the main character would not have been as strong without the supporting role. “I am absolutely delighted. I had no idea I was even in the running. It feels amazing to know that the whole country thought my role in Newton was one of my best and to win the Special Mention Award at the highest film award in India is just exhilarating. My director and co-actors made it so easy for me to act in this film,” says Tripathi. (Also read — National Film Awards 2018 complete winners list: Sridevi named Best Actress; Newton is Best Hindi Film)