Witness is a Telugu dubbed Tamil movie. People Media Factory produced the film and it is currently streaming on SonyLIV. Let's see how it is.
Story:
Witness revolves around manual scavengers and how they risk their lives cleaning drains on a daily basis. One fine day, Indrani gets the news that her son died while cleaning the drains by hand in a housing society. Shocked by this incident, Indrani decides to take over the system. Will he win this one-man war? This forms the rest of the story.
Extra Points:
Rohini is a seasoned actress and these kind of roles are a piece of cake for her. Whether in the emotional department or the courtroom scenes, he holds our attention. Shraddha Srinath does a good role and does well where she looks down on caste issues. The rest of the caste are mostly Tamil actors and they do their roles with sincerity.
Firstly, witness is not an easy film to watch. It talks about the harsh realities of manual sewers and how they are looked down upon to clean up the waste around us. The film is not only about Rohini's work but also about the atrocities that manual sewers face on a daily basis.
Written by Muthuvel and JP Sanakya, the film's story goes deep into the system and how officials discriminate against these workers on the basis of caste. It was interestingly demonstrated how government officials are involved, what happens behind closed doors in government offices and how manual sewers are worked.
Negative points:
The first parts of the film are slow. Although Rohini gets the news of her son's death in the first ten minutes, the director wastes a lot of time by introducing several characters and slows things down.
In a way, one sometimes feels like watching a documentary. The emotional outburst of a mother who has lost her son is poorly constructed. The film shifts gears and becomes compelling only when the courtroom drama begins.
Technical Aspects:
The camerawork is impressive because it looks disturbing but shows how manual sewers risk their lives to clean the drains. What is written for Rohini is moving.
As far as director Deepak is concerned, he takes a very heavy subject and conveys it in a decent manner. It lives deep in this issue with a serious drama with some riveting court scenes in the second half.
Verdict:
All in all, witness is a realistic drama of a mother's struggle against the system. The backgrounds and performances are top notch, but the emotions could have been better. The film defies the usual commercial format and has a serious tone. If you are one of those who like to watch problematic movies, Shahid will not disappoint you.