In his post, Jawale wrote that he hoped watching the movie, that is India’s official entry for Oscars, people will understand the difficulties of administration during polls in cut off areas.
“I think this is the first time this kind of issue has been covered in a Bollywood movie. There are so many challenges that people don’t even realise when it comes to administration in naxal affected areas like Malkangiri or terror infiltrated areas like Kashmir,” said Jawale.
When asked how he liked Newton, he however said that he is yet to watch the movie.
“The whole point of my post was to express happiness that for the first time the functioning of administration was covered in a mainstream film,” said the tourism director.
The Bollywood movies will be in contention with South Korea's "1987 When The Day Comes", "The Bold, The Corrupt And The Beautiful" from Taiwan, China's "Dying To Survive" and "Youth", Japanese film "Shoplifters" and "Tombiruo" from Malaysia.
A tweet from the official Twitter account of the awards read: "Just announced| The nominees for this year's Best Asian Film Award are: '1987 When The Day Comes', 'The Bold, The Corrupt And The Beautiful', 'Dying To Survive', 'Gali Guleiyan', 'Newton', 'Sanju', 'Shoplifters', 'Tombiruo' and 'Youth'."
The winner of the Best Asian Film Award will be determined by the 2018 Best Asian Film Grand Jury, led by Oscar and multiple AFI and AACTA Award-winning actor Russell Crowe, who returns as President.
Also returning as jurors are Indian actors Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi and Australian film critic, producer and presenter Margaret Pomeranz AM.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday announced that nine features will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 90th Academy Awards, according to the official website of the Oscars.
"Newton", directed by Amit V. Masurkar and starring the stellar Rajkummar Rao in a story set against the backdrop of elections in the world's largest democracy, was not a part of it.
The shortlisted films have been selected from 92 titles that had originally been considered in the category.
"A Fantastic Woman" (Chile), "In the Fade" (Germany), "On Body and Soula (Hungary), "Foxtrot" (Israel), "The Insult" (Lebanon), "Loveless" (Russia), "Felicite" (Senegal), "The Wound" (South Africa) and "The Square" (Sweden) have made the cut to the shortlist.
Nominations for all categories of the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on January 23.
The Oscars ceremony will be held on March 4 at the Dolby Theatre here.
So far, "Mother India", "Salaam Bombay!" and "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" are the only Indian films that made it to the top five in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards, but none have won the honour.
Rajkummar was named the Best Actor (Critics) for "Newton" and also won the Best Supporting Actor honour for "Bareilly Ki Barfi" at the Star Screen Awards here on Sunday. "Newton" is India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.
But the actor said here: "I am not dreaming about Oscars. I know it is better to be just neutral and be happy about the fact that it is India's official entry for the Oscars this year."
In 2017, Rajkummar had six releases in a row, and they were successful. He said it is indeed a "sixer".
"It is kind of a sixer! I am happy about the fact that most of my films did well and people like my efforts and sincerity," he added.
The actor will be attending the Oscars ceremony next year with the "Newton" team.
Next year, Rajkummar will be seen in "Love Sonia", "5 Weddings", "Omerta", "Shimla Mirchi", "Fanney Khan" and "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga".
Ecstatic over the win, Rajkummar tweeted: "Won the best actor award at the most prestigious APSA 2017. Thank you Maa. Thank you team 'Newton'. Don't stop chasing your dreams because they really do come true."
He also posted a photograph in which the actor, wearing a black bandhgala, is seen kissing the trophy.
The winners' names were being updated on the event's Twitter handle, which also gave a glimpse into Rajkummar's acceptance speech.
"Let's keep doing this beautiful work, let's keep making these wonderful stories. Here's to cinema," Rajkummar said and thanked his late mother for blessing "Newton", read a post on the official APSA Twitter page.
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta and actor Manoj Bajpayee congratulated the movie's team.
"Congratulations my darling Rajkummar Rao and amazing talents Mayank Tewari, Amit Masurkar. A win at the APSA is a huge achievement and should make India super proud," tweeted Hansal Mehta, who has worked with Rajkummar multiple times.
"Newton" is India's official entry for the foreign language film category at the Academy Awards 2018. Produced by Drishyam Films and directed by Masurkar, the movie revolves around a young government clerk who is sent on election duty to a Maoist-controlled town and how the ideological struggle puts him in an awkward situation.
As for "Lady of the Lake", directed by Haobam Paban Kumar, the APSA awarded it "a special mention for the Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of Unesco".
The award represents the shared common goals of APSA and Unesco, to promote diversity of cultural expression and raise awareness of the value of culture at local, national and international levels.
Shehnad Jalal stood a chance in APSA's achievement in the cinematography category for "Lady of the Lake", but lost it to a Russian movie.
Indian director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan was nominated in the achievement in directing category for his Malayalam movie "S Durga", which is in the news for being excluded from the Indian Panorama section of the ongoing 48th International Film Festival in Goa.
According to variety.com, Warwick Thornton's Australian movie "Sweet Country" was named best film while Russia's Andrey Zvyagintsev was named best director for "Loveless".
"It's a great feeling to represent India at such an international platform, especially with a film like ‘Newton'. We feel there is a big opportunity that we have this year at the Oscars. We are hoping for the best," Rajkummar told IANS here.
"The team of ‘Newton' is already there in Los Angeles including the director (Amit V. Masurkar) and the producers (Drishyam Films). They are working really hard. There are a lot of screenings happening there on daily basis.
"We just had a screening for American Film Institute a few days back. A lot of people from Hollywood remain present for the screenings. I couldn't go because of injury, but I am missing all the fun. I am sure the whole team of ‘Newton' is trying really hard. A lot of money is being spent for the promotions there," he added.
Rajkummar, who fractured his left leg on the set of reality TV show "Lip Sing Battle" in late October, says he will soon join the crew of "Newton" in Los Angeles.
"I will soon be joining them there as this means a lot to me. Thankfully, we have a lot of support from the government," he said.
The film revolves around a young government clerk who is sent on election duty to a Maoist-controlled town and how the ideological struggle puts him in an awkward situation. It was shot in the interiors of Chhatisgarh.
"Newton" released theatrically in India in September.
The 90th Academy Awards will take place on March 4 in Los Angeles.
Haiti, Honduras, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants, a statement on the official website of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences said.
"Newton", a Hindi film set against the backdrop of elections in the world's largest democracy, was last month chosen as India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars 2018.
Directed by Amit V. Masurkar and starring Rajkummar Rao, was chosen from among 26 titles from different languages by a 14-member jury appointed by the Film Federation of India (FFI).
It will now compete with high-profile contenders like Angelina Jolie's "First They Killed My Father" from Cambodia, Michael Haneke's "Happy End" from Austria, Sebastian Lelio's "A Fantastic Woman" from Chile, Robin Campillo's "BPM (Beats Per Minute)" from France, Samuel Maoz's "Foxtrot" from Israel, Joachim Trier's "Thelma" from Norway, and Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Loveless" from Russia.
Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on January 23, 2018.
The awards ceremony will be held on March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Last week, "Newton" was announced as India's official entry for Oscars' foreign language film category.
On Monday night, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, in a Facebook post, shared Muller's opinion after watching "Newton".
"A pretty decent film, definitely no rip off from our Secret Ballot (even if the general concept is the same)" and then I asked him if I can share his response on social media? He replied,"Please feel free as you see fit, there is not even a hint of plagiarisation," Kashyap, who spoke in defence of the film on Sunday, posted.
He also shared the screenshot of his conversation with Mueller.
On Sunday, defending the film, Kashyap tweeted: "'Newton' is as much a copy of 'Secret Ballot' as 'The Avengers' is of 'Watan Ke Rakhwale'."
The movie, produced by Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films, had its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, where it even won an award.
Standing up for its genuinity, Kashyap said: "'Newton' is an award winner from Berlin fest and I can promise you those curators watch more films in a year than rest of us do in a lifetime."
While "Newton", which stars National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao, revolves around a government employee who struggles to supervise voting in a forest area of Chhattisgarh, controlled by Maoists, "Secret Ballot" is described as a movie which focuses on the life of a lady ballot officer who visits a barren and desolate place to plead with voters to cast their votes and take part in the elections.
"Newton" director Amit.V. Masurkar has already given his take on the controversy, saying: "The story was born from my heart. I had no idea about 'Secret Ballot'."
Meanwhile, meeting the film team's expectations, "Newton" is attracting audiences to theatres.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted on Sunday: "'Newton' shows remarkable 162.5 per cent growth on Saturday. Friday Rs 96 lakh, Saturday Rs 2.52 crore. Total: Rs 3.48 crore India biz."
"Newton" has been chosen as India's official selection for Oscars 2018. A day after this news was announced, several reports came out claiming that the film has been inspired by a 2001 Iranian movie titled "Secret Ballot", helmed by Babak Payami.
It focuses on the life of a ballot officer who visits a barren and desolate place to plead with voters to cast their votes and take part in the elections.
Asked if he was inspired by the Iranian film, Masurkar told IANS: "I wrote the story in 2013 and after that, for eight months I along with Mayank (Tiwari, the screenplay writer) worked on the script.
"The intention of the story is to talk about a section of the population in our democracy who has a desire to vote but how, under which situation, missed out on the equal rights. The story was born from my heart. I had no idea about 'Secret Ballot'."
The director added: "I think two days before the shooting starts, someone told me if I watched that Iranian film. I went through some of the clippings online and our film has no similarities to that.
"Newton" had its world premiere at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival and won the International Confederation of Art Cinemas Award for best film in the 'Forum Section'.
Masurkar says that the film has been watched by several critics.
"The film has travelled to 40 countries. Audiences and critics have watched it across. They could have said that then... they haven't because it is a different film. I think people should watch the film to compare and find out if my film is copied from that one ('Secret Ballot')," Masurkar said.
"Newton", which stars National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao, revolves around a government employee who struggles to supervise voting in a forest area of Chhattisgarh, controlled by Maoists.
When asked about his team strategy to promote "Newton" at the Oscars, Rajkummar said: "It's just got announced and its too soon to decide but our team is going to meet and we will plan something about it because there has to be strategy. We will be going to America to promote the film."
He was present at the GQ Men of the Year Award on Friday night.
When reporters asked Rajkummar whether he is going to get some guidance from Aamir Khan about film promotion at the Oscars, he said, "Off course, I will definitely call him and meet him because 'Lagaan' was there at the Oscars and we are really proud of the film. so I am sure Aamir sir will help us a lot."
Rajkummar attended the event along with girlfriend Patralekha who seems excited about the film too
"I am very thrilled. 'Newton' is a film that should get in top five films at the Oscars because it's really good and relevant and shows different side of India," she said.
"Newton" revolves around Newton Kumar, a rookie government clerk who is sent on election duty to a naxal-controlled town in the conflict-ridden jungles of Chhattisgarh, India. It has been directed by Amit V Masurkar.
"Very happy to share this news that 'Newton' is India's official entry to the Oscars this year. Congratulations team," he tweeted.
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who is a good friend of Rajkummar and has collaborated with him for films like "Shahid" and "Aligarh", took to Twitter to express his happiness and said that "Newton" is the best choice.
"'Newton' is India's entry to the Oscars. The best choice in years by the federation," Mehta tweeted.
He added: "If films like 'A Separation' and 'Children of Heaven' made it to the Oscar nominations so can 'Newton'. It is our best shot. Manish Mundra go for it!"
"Newton" revolves around a young government clerk who is sent on election duty to a Maoist-controlled town and how the ideological struggle puts him in an awkward situation.
Directed by Amit Masurkar, "Newton" released on Friday. The film is produced by Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films, the company best known for backing critically-acclaimed projects such as "Masaan" and "Umrika".
Rajkummar will soon be seen in other projects like "Love Sonia", "5Weddings", "Ittefaq: It Happened One Night" and "Fanney Khan".
Popular TV host Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the Academy Awards in 2018. He will host the 90th edition of the awards on March 4.
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta tweeted on Tuesday: "And the highly acclaimed 'Newton' releases on August 18. With another stellar act by the unstoppable Rajkummar Rao."
Mehta also posted the film's poster, in which Rajkummar, shielded by a helmet and a military vest, is seen running with an Electronic Voting Machine. The poster's caption reads "Seedha Aadmi Ulti Duniya".
Mehta, who has worked with Rajkummar on films like "Shahid" and "Aligarh", clarified that he is just "an admirer and well wisher" of "Newton", directed by Amit Masurkar.
The film is produced by Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films, the company best known for backing critically-acclaimed projects such as "Masaan" and "Umrika".
"Newton" won the Art Cinema Award for the Forum section at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.
It revolves around a clerk placed on election duty in a conflict-ridden area of Chhattisgarh.
In a career spanning over three decades, Yadav has been a part of six films that were sent for the Oscars, including Deepa Mehta's Indo-Canadian film "Water", Kalpana Lajmi- directed "Rudaali", Shekar Kapur's "Bandit Queen" and his latest film "Newton".
Two of his films, Mira Nair's "Salaam Bombay" and Aamir Khan-starrer "Lagaan", made it to the final Oscars nominations.
In an interview with PTI, Yadav says, "I have never thought about or calculated these things as my entire focus is on giving my best as an actor. I don't pay attention on a film going for Oscars, I feel if the film is good then it will get the love and recognition it deserves.
"I do my work with utmost honesty and even the films that I did - 'Salaam Bombay', 'Water', 'Lagaan' and 'Newton' - were made with honesty."
The actor says he is particular about his choice of characters and prefers doing films that he believes will leave an impact on the audience.
"If the film is good then it will go anywhere, be it the Oscars or any other award. When the script is good, one gets an idea that it will do well in every which way, be it commercially or in terms of awards and international recognition. The sensibility of a director matters the most."
The actor says he disagrees with a notion that commercial films are low on content and indie films are always good.
"It is a wrong perception that commercial films cannot be good. They can be good if made with good intent. The films that I acted in and got nominated for Oscars were never made with the intention of making them commercial.
"But at the same time, there are big-budget films that have not done well because the story was not good. For independent cinema too, it is not easy as these films also need to have good story to become a hit."
Directed by Amit Masurkar, "Newton" features Rajkummar Rao in the lead. It also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil and Sanjay Mishra.
The film released on September 22.