witness movie review 2022

'Witness' movie review: An impactful, Multi-layered social commentary

Debutant Deepak’s Witness is a daring film for a lot of reasons. It takes manual scavenging, a rarely-discussed social issue, as its core and questions everyone in the system who are both passively and actively enabling it. In an equally daring move, the promos of the film almost gave out the entire story, including the ending.

This could have been a disastrous step for any film, but Deepak manages to use it as a tool to draw the focus of the audience towards the life of its characters, without letting us worry much about the course of the rather conventional plot. Witness is the story of an underprivileged mother’s (Rohini as Indrani) fight for justice following the death of her 20-year-old son Parthiban, who was forced into manual scavenging. Despite knowing that she is fighting an impossible battle, we root for her and the film, because of the unique writing and execution.

For starters, Deepak makes us develop a strong liking for Parthiban. Be it his ever-smiling face or the warm conversations he has with his mother, everything about this person is endearing. When such a noble soul is lost, it is natural for us to feel affected. Then we are introduced to the comrades supporting Indrani and the powers that be who forced Parthiban down the death pit. We also have the common link, Parvathy (Shraddha Srinath), who is a conscientious inhabitant of the apartment where Parthiban’s life was lost.

Fascinatingly, the screenplay, written by Muthuvel, provides every main character a challenge, a want, and an arc, which complements the main narrative. The writing ensures that their paths cross each other giving rise to engaging sequences. For instance, comrade Prithviraj (an effective G Selva) and the good-natured lawyer (Shanmuga Rajan) see every positive court hearing as a trophy and celebrate the win, even as a traumatised Indrani walks out of the court not wanting to hear the details of her son’s death. All these minute details aren’t served as expositions but are established through the adept filmmaking of Deepak, who also shot the film.

Witness will be long remembered for the kind of conversations the women have in the film. Out of the several exchanges between Parvathy and Indrani, one scene that stands out is their discussion about each other’s mental health. I believe scenes like this are a good start for the betterment of the writing of female characters and mental issues. It is also impressive how every character in Witness is extremely grounded. For instance, when Parvathy informs Indrani about the CCTV footage of Parthiban’s death, Indrani fails to process it as a piece of evidence and instinctively wishes to see it as it has her son’s face. In another court hearing, the lawyer mentions the cruelty Parthiban went through, a borderline guilt-stricken Parvathy keeps nodding her head in approval in the background. Nifty touches by Deepak ensure that we are completely invested in the hard-hitting story.

When Indrani looks longingly at the place where she used to live happily in the past, and says, “Inga ellam apo sandhoshama irundhom, ipo vazhkaiyum odudhu naanum odren!” It is a punch to the gut. It is really heartening to see a consummate performer like Rohini finally get to play a full-fledged lead after ages. Shraddha, on the other hand, beautifully pulls off an intricate performance as Parvathy, who is forced to put up a brave face every single day even while longing for affection within. It is not easy to look overwhelmed and enervated for the majority of the film and yet keep the audience invested. But Sharadhha does it effectively throughout.

Though people may have divided opinions on the climax and the execution, I felt it was shot in a very innovative way. It leaves a strong reminder that all of us will be reduced to mere witnesses of injustice unless we join forces as a society.

Director: Deepak Cast: Rohini, Shraddha Srinath, G Selva, Shanmuga Raja Streaming Platform: SonyLiv Rating: 4/5

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Witness review: A hard-hitting social drama on the horrors of manual scavenging

Witness review: shraddha srinath and rohini bring a worthy watch about the horrors of manual scavenging..

Filmmaker Deepak’s Witness is one of those stories that deserves to be celebrated purely for its intent. 45 minutes into the film, the camera zooms in on a massive billboard of the Swachh Bharat Mission and quickly zooms back on a bunch of women who are cleaning the streets around midnight and talking about how they gasp for breath while on duty. Here’s a film that talks about the lives of an entire community, discriminated by their caste, that earns its livelihood from cleaning the waste around us. This is also a film where we, as a society, are witness to all the horrors that take place in the name of sanitation and human scavenging but don’t do anything. (Also read: Vadh movie review: Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta in a patchy yet well-acted drama about justifying murder)

The plot revolves around a mother, a sanitation worker, whose son dies while cleaning sewers in an apartment society. Convinced that her son was forced to do the job, the mother garners the help of a union worker, a lawyer and a resident of the apartment where the incident took place in her quest for justice.

The interesting aspect of the film is that it not only talks about the particular case in discussion in the story. It throws the spotlight on the state of such cases in India and how challenging it is to go against the system. In one of the most touching scenes of the movie, the lawyer tells the mother that it’s nearly impossible to win such a case and it would cost a lot. Without any regret, she says that it’s fine if she can’t win the case but she wants to see those people responsible for her son’s death to step into a court and answer why they forced a young boy to get into a septic tank. Most of these cases are usually not taken seriously as people give in for an out of court settlement. When the mother decides to fight the case, we become the witness to the challenges that usually one has to face in such cases.

The film has a very simple screenplay and sometimes feels like a documentary. Nevertheless, its intent to talk about the marginalised community fighting for justice against all odds makes it a compelling watch. Rohini, as the devastated mother fighting for justice is terrific. She proves once again why she’s one of the most versatile actors in the country today. Shraddha Srinath shines in another interesting character who, despite belonging to the urban working class, faces caste-based discrimination.

Witness, which is currently streaming on Sony Liv, will definitely go down as one of the most important films of the year.

• Shraddha Srinath

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Witness Movie Review: A highly impactful, multi-layered social commentary

Rating: ( 4 / 5).

Debutant Deepak's Witness is a daring film for a lot of reasons. It takes manual scavenging, a rarely-discussed social issue, as its core and questions everyone in the system who are both passively and actively enabling it. In an equally daring move, the promos of the film almost gave out the entire story, including the ending. This could have been a disastrous step for any film, but Deepak manages to use it as a tool to draw the focus of the audience towards the life of its characters, without letting us worry much about the course of the rather conventional plot.

Cast: Rohini, Shraddha Srinath, G Selva, Shanmuga Raja Director: Deepak

Witness is the story of an underprivileged mother's (Rohini as Indrani) fight for justice following the death of her 20-year-old son Parthiban, who was forced into manual scavenging. Despite knowing that she is fighting an impossible battle, we root for her and the film, because of the unique writing and execution. For starters, Deepak makes us develop a strong liking for Parthiban. Be it his ever-smiling face or the warm conversations he has with his mother, everything about this person is endearing. He is probably the ideal kid every mother wishes to have. When such a noble soul is lost, it is natural for us to feel affected. Then we are introduced to the comrades supporting Indrani and the powers that be who forced Parthiban down the death pit. And finally, we have the common link, Parvathy (Shraddha Srinath), who is a conscientious inhabitant of the apartment where Parthiban's life was lost. Fascinatingly, the screenplay, written by Muthuvel, provides every main character a challenge, a want, and an arc, which complements the main narrative. The writing ensures that their paths cross each other giving rise to engaging sequences. For instance, comrade Prithviraj (an effective G Selva) and the good-natured lawyer (Shanmuga Rajan) see every positive court hearing as a trophy and celebrate the win, even as a traumatised Indrani walks out of the court not wanting to hear the details of her son's death. Though all three are inherently good people, each have a different reason to take up the case. If Prithviraj wants this case to set a precedent for other Dalit people forced into manual scavenging, the lawyer processes it as a professional success, but for Indrani, it is a very personal battle. All these minute details aren't served as expositions but are established through the adept filmmaking of Deepak, who also shot the film. Apart from its strong social message against manual scavenging, the film also registers many important issues that are the root causes of it. Be it the reckless slum clearance that forced people to migrate to the outskirts of the city to the underpayment and exploitation of sanitary workers, the writers ensure it isn't just a superficial look at a pertinent issue. Witness will be long remembered for the kind of conversations the women have in the film. Out of the several exchanges between Parvathy and Indrani, one scene that stands out is their discussion about each other's mental health. I believe scenes like these are a good start for the betterment of the writing of female characters and mental issues. It is also impressive how every character in Witness is extremely grounded. For instance, when Parvathy informs Indrani about the CCTV footage of Parthiban's death, Indrani fails to process it as a piece of evidence and instinctively wishes to see it as it has her son's face. In another court hearing, the lawyer mentions the cruelty Parthiban went through, a borderline guilt-stricken Parvathy keeps nodding her head in approval in the background. Nifty touches by Deepak ensure that we are completely invested in the hard-hitting story. It is interesting how this tightly-packed film manages to register the mundane life of Indrani. Despite being a courtroom drama, the film keeps the dialogues as minimal as possible. The measured silences prepare us for the impact of what comes next.  When Indrani looks longingly at the place where she used to live happily in the past, and says," Inga ellam apo sandhoshama irundhom, ipo vazhkaiyum odudhu naanum odren !" it is a punch to the gut. It is really heartening to see a consummate performer like Rohini finally get to play a full-fledged lead after ages. The way she process grief in the first act or the meltdown sequence in the pre-climax are just examples of the range of the actor. Shraddha, on the other hand, beautifully pulls off an intricate performance as Parvathy, who is forced to put up a brave face every single day even while longing for affection within. It is not easy to look overwhelmed and enervated for the majority of the film and yet keep the audience invested. But Shraddha does it effectively throughout. Though people may have divided opinions on the climax and the execution, I felt it was shot in a very innovative way. It leaves a strong reminder that all of us will be reduced to mere witnesses of injustice unless we join forces as a society.

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Witness Movie Review: విట్నెస్ మూవీ రివ్యూ - పారిశుద్ధ్య కార్మికుల క‌న్నీటి క‌థ‌

Witness Movie Review: రోహిణిిి(Rohini), శ్ర‌ద్ధాశ్రీనాథ్ ప్ర‌ధాన పాత్ర‌ల్లో న‌టించిన విట్నెస్ సినిమా సోని లివ్ ఓటీటీలో విడుద‌లైంది. దీప‌క్ ఈ సినిమాకు ద‌ర్శ‌క‌త్వం వ‌హించాడు.

Witness Movie Review: రోహిణి, శ్ర‌ద్ధా శ్రీనాథ్ (Shraddha Srinath)ప్ర‌ధాన పాత్ర‌ల్లో న‌టించిన చిత్రం విట్నెస్‌. పారిశుద్ధ్య కార్మికుల జీవితాల్లోని స‌మ‌స్య‌ల‌ను చ‌ర్చిస్తూ ద‌ర్శ‌కుడు దీప‌క్ ఈ సినిమాను తెర‌కెక్కించారు. టీజీ విశ్వ‌ప్ర‌సాద్ నిర్మించారు. సోని లివ్ ఓటీటీలో (Sony Liv)ఈ సినిమా విడుద‌లైంది. తెలుగుతో పాటు త‌మిళం, మ‌ల‌యాళం, హిందీ, క‌న్న‌డ భాష‌ల్లో ఈ సినిమాను రిలీజ్ చేశారు. సందేశాత్మ‌క క‌థాంశంతో రూపొందిన ఈ సినిమా ఎలా ఉందంటే...

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ఇంద్రాణి (రోహిణి) పారిశుద్ధ్య కార్మికురాలు. భ‌ర్త చ‌నిపోవ‌డంతో కొడుకు పార్తిబ‌న్ లోకంగా బ‌తుకుతుంటోంది. కొడుకును పెద్ద చ‌దువులు చ‌దివించాల‌ని క‌ల‌లు కంటుంది. కానీ ఓ ల‌గ్జ‌రీ అపార్ట్‌మెంట్‌లో మ్యాన్‌హోల్ క్లీన్ చేయ‌డానికి వెళ్లిన పార్తిబ‌న్ ఆక్సిజ‌న్ అంద‌క‌పోవ‌డంతో చ‌నిపోతాడు. అపార్ట్‌మెంట్‌లో ఉన్న వారంద‌రూ ప‌లుకుబ‌డి క‌లిగిన వ్య‌క్తులు కావ‌డంతో పోలీసుల‌కు డ‌బ్బులు ఇచ్చి పార్తిబ‌న్‌ను తాగుబోతుగా చిత్రీక‌రించి కేసును త‌ప్పుదోవ ప‌ట్టించాల‌ని ప్ర‌య‌త్నిస్తారు.

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ఆర్ట్ సినిమా మాదిరిగా...

విట్నెస్ సినిమాలో ద‌ర్శ‌కుడు చ‌ర్చించిన పాయింట్ మంచిది. కానీ పూర్తిగా ఆర్ట్ సినిమా మాదిరిగా తెర‌కెక్కించారు.తెలుగులో అగ్ర నిర్మాత‌గా కొన‌సాగుతోన్న టీజీ విశ్వ‌ప్ర‌సాద్ త‌మిళంలో తొలి ప్ర‌య‌త్నంగా నిర్మించిన సినిమా ఇది. లాభాపేక్ష‌ను ఆశించ‌కుండా ఇలాంటి సందేశాత్మ‌క చిత్రాన్ని నిర్మించ‌డం అభినంద‌నీయం.

రోహిణి జీవించింది...

పారిశుద్ధ్య కార్మికురాలి పాత్ర‌లో రోహిణి అస‌మాన న‌ట‌న‌ను క‌న‌బ‌రిచింది. త‌న కొడుకుకు న్యాయం జ‌ర‌గాల‌ని పోరాటం చేసే త‌ల్లిగా భావోద్వేగ‌భ‌రిత పాత్ర‌లో జీవించింది. హై క్లాస్ అపార్ట్‌మెంట్‌లో ఉంటూ కుల వివ‌క్ష‌కు గుర‌య్యే యువ‌తిగా శ్ర‌ద్ధా శ్రీనాథ్ న‌ట‌న బాగుంది.

Witness Movie Review -క‌న్నీటి వ్య‌థ‌ల్ని...

పారిశుద్ధ్య కార్మికుల జీవితాల్ని వారి క‌న్నీటి వ్య‌థ‌ల్ని వాస్త‌విక కోణంలో చూపించిన సినిమా ఇది. మంచి మెసేజ్ ఓరియెంటెడ్ సినిమాగా మెప్పిస్తుంది.

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Witness Movie Review (2022)

Deepak's well-researched 'witness', on sonyliv, is a story about manual scavenging that's more earnest than emotional.

Witness Movie Cast & Crew

The crux of Deepak's Witness is this: a teenager can be a terrific swimmer, a lifeguard at a pool. And yet, because of his caste/community, this talent of his is seen as something that will make him a good manual scavenger. Parthiban (Thamizharasan) is that teenager. He lives with his mother Indrani, who's played by Rohini with her characteristic conviction. The screenplay places them in Semmanjeri and contrasts this locality with Adyar, where the residents of an apartment complex need their septic tank unblocked and cleaned. The other contrast is that these residents are the type who say "snanam" for a bath, and propose doing a "homam" for cleansing themselves of bad vibes and sin. The sin is the death of Parthiban. And we wonder: How did this college-going boy – this lifeguard – from Semmanjeri land up all the way in Adyar for this particular job?

The unravelling of this mystery becomes the film's tool in unravelling the complex chain of command in our cities: a judge rightly calls it "passing the buck". Deepak has done his research, and it is all up there on screen, packed in the form of a long-running court case. What was once the corporation's job – like cleaning drains, or the road-sanitation work that Indrani performs – has been farmed out to private firms. And these private firms end up exploiting people from a particular community, which is not named. But the cake for Ambedkar's birthday and the Christian rituals inform us at least about Parthiban's family – that they are Dalit Christians. Another important character is Shraddha Srinath, who plays a resident in that Adyar apartment complex. She is an architect, and she helps Indrani with the case. Unlike the others in the building, here is an upper-class woman with a conscience.

We have had some excellent films, recently, that dealt with social issues: Thamizh's Seththumaan , Gautham Ramachandran's Gargi , Franklin Jacob's Writer . These are films where the filmmaking transcended the issue, where the screenplay and craftsmanship and performances helped build a complex dramatic world around the issue. But the main weapon – and the main weakness – of Witness is its earnestness. That is certainly a good quality for a film to have, but it cannot be the only one – and for all the pluses we get in the form of information, there is the nagging feeling that so much more could have been done with the narrative and the characterisation. The Shraddha Srinath character, the way she meets Parthiban, her issues with her family – none of this is convincing. And the callousness of government agencies and the powerlessness of the layman were laid out with much more emotional impact in, say, Virumandi's Ka Pae Ranasingam . What Witness does well is to remind us that a city whose population is exploding needs to invest in civic infrastructure. That is its achievement.

About Author

Baradwaj Rangan

National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, former deputy editor of The Hindu and senior editor of Film Companion, has carved a niche for himself over the years as a powerful voice in cinema, especially the Tamil film industry, with his reviews of films. While he was pursuing his chemical engineering degree, he was fascinated with the writing and analysis of world cinema by American critics. Baradwaj completed his Master’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations through scholarship. His first review was for the Hindi film Dum, published on January 30, 2003, in the Madras Plus supplement of The Economic Times. He then started critiquing Tamil films in 2014 and did a review on the film Subramaniapuram, while also debuting as a writer in the unreleased rom-com Kadhal 2 Kalyanam. Furthermore, Baradwaj has authored two books - Conversations with Mani Ratnam, 2012, and A Journey Through Indian Cinema, 2014. In 2017, he joined Film Companion South and continued to show his prowess in critiquing for the next five years garnering a wide viewership and a fan following of his own before announcing to be a part of Galatta Media in March 2022.

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Shraddha Srinath (Parvathy) Rohini (Indirani) G Selva (Petharaju) Azhagam Perumal (Ganapathi Subramaniam) Shanmuga Raja (Sivaprakasam) Rajeev Anand (Sibi) Srinath (Ramanathan) Subatra Robert (Kalpana) Thamizharasan (Parthiban)

Around deaths that happen due to manual scavenging.

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2022, Drama, 1h 33m

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Witness   photos.

A young man must learn how to navigate the streets of Philadelphia when his addict mother goes to rehab, leaving him behind to fend for himself.

Genre: Drama

Original Language: English

Director: Deeva Gordon , Kyson A Martin

Writer: Deeva Gordon

Runtime: 1h 33m

Production Co: DEU Productions I, Mastermind Films

Cast & Crew

Skylerr Martin

Young Tyler Jenkins

Jamol Manigault

Teen Tyler Jenkins

Kyson A Martin

Eternal Sincere

Fish , Mike

Kevin D. Benton

Nakia Dillard

Charles W. Harris III

Christian Birch

Deeva Gordon

Screenwriter

Executive Producer

Cinematographer

Film Editing

Sean Taylor

Ira M. Hunter IV

Eric T. Jones

Alexis Malone

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Release Date : December 09, 2022

123telugu.com Rating : 2.75/5

Starring: Shraddha Srinath, Rohini, Subatra Robert, Shanmuga Raja, Azhagam Perumal, G Selva, Rajeev Anand, Tamilarasan, Srinath

Director: Deepak

Producer: TG Vishwa Prasad

Music Director: Ramesh Thamilmani

Cinematography: Deepak

Editor: Philomin Raj

Related Links : Trailer

Witness is a Tamil film that has been dubbed in Telugu. People Media Factory has produced the film which is now streaming on SonyLIV. Let’s see how it is.

Witness revolves around manual scavengers and how they risk their lives in cleaning sewers on a daily basis. Indrani(Rohini) and her son work in the sanitary department. One fine day, Indrani gets a message that her son has passed away while cleaning manual sewers in an apartment society. Shocked by this incident, Indrani decides to take on the system. Will she win this lone war? That forms the rest of the story.

Plus Points:

Rohini is a seasoned actress and such roles are a cake walk for her. Be it in the emotional department or in the court scenes, she holds our attention. Shraddha Srinath gets a good role and does well in her part where she gets looked down by caste issues. The rest of the caste is mostly Tamil actors and they do their parts sincerely.

Firstly, Witness is not an easy film to watch. It deals with the harsh realities of manual sewers and how they are looked down upon to clean the waste around us. The film does not deal with just Rohini’s case but it deals with the atrocities that the manual sewers face on a daily basis.

The film’s story, written by Muthuvel and JP Sanakya dwells deep into the system and how officials discriminate against these workers caste wise. How government officials are involved, what happens behind closed doors in government offices and how manual sewers are treated has been showcased in a gripping manner.

Minus Points:

The initial parts of the film are slow. Even though Rohini gets news that her son has passed away in the first ten minutes itself, the director wastes a lot of time by introducing several characters and makes things slow.

In a way, one gets a feeling of watching a documentary at times. The emotional outburst of a mother losing her son has not been established properly. The film shifts gears and becomes gripping only when the courtroom drama starts.

Technical Aspects:

The camerawork is impressive as it looks disturbing but shows how the manual sewers risk their lives to clean sewers. The tone of the film is realistic and so are the dialogues. Those written for Rohini are moving.

Coming to the director Deepak, he takes a very hard hitting subject and narrates in a decent manner. He dwells deep into this issue with a serious drama that has some riveting courtroom scenes in the second half. But the emotional thread in the film is weak. More melodrama would have made the film intense.

On the whole, Witness is the realistic drama of a mother’s fight against the system. The backdrop and performances are top notch but the emotions could have been better. The film defies regular commercial format and has a serious tone. If you are the ones who love watching issue based films, Witness will not disappoint you.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.75/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

Click Here For Telugu Review

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Where to watch

2022 ‘விட்னஸ்’ Directed by Deepak Muthuvel

With the world of conservancy workers at its center, Witness presents a never-seen-before view of metropolitan cities and the invisible corridors of power lying underneath them.

Shraddha Srinath Rohini Shanmugarajan Selva Rajeev Anand N. Azhagamperumal Srinath Ajith Koshy Subathra Robert Kadugu Ramamoorthy Vinod Sagar Rindhu Ravi Balaji Radhakrishnan

Director Director

Deepak Muthuvel

Producers Producers

T G Vishwa Prasad Vivek Kuchibhotla

Writers Writers

J P Chanakya J. Muthuvel Deepak Muthuvel

Editor Editor

Philomin Raj

Cinematography Cinematography

Production design production design, composer composer.

Ramesh Thamilmani

Songs Songs

Sound sound.

Lawrence Vishnu Vivek Anandan Vysakh P.V.

Makeup Makeup

Y E Hari Prasad

People Media Factory

Alternative Titles

विट्नस, ವಿಟ್ನೆಸ್, విట్నెస్

Releases by Date

09 dec 2022, releases by country.

• Theatrical U SonyLIV

123 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Akshay Kannan ★★★

This movie works totally as a social message and I really admire they are trying to create awareness on an concerning issue but the packaging needed to be more engaging to reach more people

Review by Vasanthan ★★★

Well intentioned film again. The topic that it intends to raise awareness about is absolutely pertinent and kudos to the team for doin this 👏. But again that awareness part seems to be the issue as a film. As a court procedural, it's engaging n tries to keep a low key tone, infact a tad too low key that it feels like a documentary at times. And suddenly when it tries to be a film, it goes for in your face elements like forced drama, manipulative sentiment, soga music etc. Doesn't use the form of cinema well to be a memorable n impactful one.

Good performances esp Rohini.

Review by Ilyas Muhammed ★★★★ 2

Despite few flaws in technical aspect and slow pace, Witness is an important political film about metropolitan cities and its frontline workers. Deepak in his debut film has made a strong political statement, especially the climax. Almost all characters made an impression, especially those played by Rohini and comrade Selva.

Review by AkashAditya ★★★★½

#Witness works brilliantly as a procedural drama, unabashedly realistic in its storytelling and heartbreaking. It also openly criticises the caste hierarchy and state power structure within its story realm. I haven't seen a Tamil film that has got its politics as right and as important to the story as this one.

Review by Anju Devadas ★★★

It is not often that we come across films that discuss the brutal realities of manual scavenging. Vidhu Vincent’s Manhole (2016), Divya Bharathi’s Kakoos (2018), and Jithin Issac Thomas’ segment "Pra. Thoo. Mu" from the anthology Freedom Fight (2022) has addressed the horrors of this rarely-discussed social issue. Debutant director Deepak’s hard-hitting social drama Witness is the latest addition to these narratives that critique the innumerable deaths and disturbing caste politics associated with manual scavenging.

The film follows Indrani (Rohini), a mother and corporation worker, who fights for justice following the death of her 20-year-old son Parthiban (Thamizharasan), who was forced to clean the sewers in an apartment society. With the help of a union worker, a lawyer, and a…

Review by Bustardss

Completing this year with this striking movie

Review by Mano yokesh ★★★★½

A hard hitting and a super relevant film for ages. A must must must watch.

Review by Radhika54 ★★★★½ 2

Cried my heart out. The questions the movie rises and the answer therefore that people choose to oppress has never been told before.

Review by Cineastmemes ★★★★★

The final shot💔

Review by PrinceKSP ★★★★

Witness (2022) is a manifestation of years/decades of suppressed anger. The writing is pretty much on our face but for all the right reasons, its a film that intends to make the viewers uncomfortable in order to sensitize them.

Review by கார்த்திக் சிவகுமார் ★★★½

Left me numb. I think everyone should watch this & take the blame on ourselves for allowing someone to clean our wastes. Thanks to Rohini for the Terrific performances. Kudos to the debutant Director Deepak. Will look forward for his future works.

Review by vaanaambaa ★★½

first writer, now this, both could be great films if it utilized cinema as form(ex:karnan). Writer & Witness gets its politics right, form it miserably as studentfilm(n number miscast of artists)

Select your preferred poster

• ENGLISH HINDI MALAYALAM TAMIL TELUGU KANNADA BENGALI  

Witness Tamil Movie

Witness is a 2022 Indian movie directed by Deepak starring Shraddha Srinath, Rohini, Subatra Robert and Shanmuga Raja. The feature film is produced by TG Vishwa Prasad and the music composed by Ramesh Thamilman.

Director: Deepak Producer: TG Vishwa Prasad Music Director: Ramesh Thamilman Song Lyrics Writer: Kabilan Sound Designer: Vivek Anandan Editor: Philomin Raj Art Designer: Sathish Screenplay Writers: Muthuvel, JP Sanakya

• Entertainment
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Witness: Release Date, Trailer, Songs, Cast

• Release Date 9 December 2022
• Language Tamil
• Dubbed In Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada
• Genre Drama
• Duration 2h 3min
• Cast Shraddha Srinath, Rohini, Subatra Robert, Shanmuga Raja, Azhagam Perumal, G Selva, Rajeev Anand, Tamilarasan, Srinath
• Director Deepak
• Writer Muthuvel, JP Sanakya
• Cinematography Deepak
• Music Ramesh Thamilmani
• Producer TG Vishwa Prasad
• Production People Media Factory
• Certificate 16+

About Witness Movie (2022)

The brutal reality of manual scavenging engulfs another family when street sweeper Rohini's son dies while scavenging. Rohini decides to seek justice for her deceased son and is helped by Shraddha, a young woman with conscience, in her battle.

Witness Movie Cast, Release Date, Trailer, Songs and Ratings

Witness Movie Trailer

Witness photos.

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• Home » Movies » Witness 2022 Tamil Movie Review

Witness review: The film has strong content but fails to connect emotionally

The dreadfully-written script and poor narrative washed out the total intensity of the content in this Deepak’s directorial.

Published:Dec 09, 2022

Shraddha Srinath and Rohini's 'Witness' deals with the issues faced by manual scavengers. (SonyLIV/Twitter)

Impressive Shraddha Srinath & Rohini.

Witness (Tamil)

• Cast: Shraddha Srinath, Rohini, Subrata Robert, Shanmugarajan, G Selva, Rajeev Anand, Azhagam Perumal, Tamilarasan, and Srinath
• Director: Deepak
• Producer: TG Vishwa Prasad
• Music: Ramesh Thamilmani
• Duration: 2 hours 3 minutes
• OTT platform: Sony LIV
• Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Emraan Hashmi, and Revathy
• Director: Maneesh Sharma
• Producer: Aditya Chopra
• Music: Pritam Chakraborty
• Runtime: 2 hours 35 minutes

Even as the country continues to witness deaths in sewers, despite a ban on manual scavenging in 2013, Deepak’s latest directorial venture Witness discusses in depth the issues faced by manual scavengers.

The film’s story, written by Muthuvel and JP Sanakya, revolves around a mother — a sanitation worker — and her manual scavenger son.

The mother, played by Rohini, seeks justice for her son who died while cleaning sewers. The system plays the antagonist in the movie.

Witness is not an easy film to watch, for it talks about the struggles manual scavengers face while living/growing up in the marginalised neighbourhoods. For them, it’s survival every day.

The best part of the film is its content. It is not exactly about a specific case, rather it’s a commentary on how such cases are treated in India.

Narrative stumbles

The content deserves a much stronger narration. The film presents themes but doesn’t deal with them.

There was nothing gripping and remotely interesting, other than the basic plot.

There are scenes just for the sake of a punch dialogue. The uneven and dreadfully-written script washed out the intensity of the content.

You can guess what the following line will be at times, which is reinforced by the camera and music.

The narrative stumbles slightly under the weight of its own socio-economic and political messaging.

Shraddha & Rohini are impressive

The performances by the actors, especially Shraddha Srinath as Parvathi and Rohini as Indrani Amma, are really impressive.

The actors who played Thozhar and his wife Kalpana’s roles did a good job. Kalpana comes only in a couple of scenes but leaves an impact.

It’s good to see Shanmugarajan back in a noticeable role after a long time.

தீபக்-ன் இயக்கத்தில் ஷ்ரத்தா ஸ்ரீநாத் மற்றும் ரோகிணியின் நடிப்பில் உண்மைக்கு நெருக்கமான #Witness 🔥 காணுங்கள் உங்கள் Sony LIV ல் மட்டும் #SonyLIV #WitnessOnSonyLIV @shraddhasrinath @rohinimolleti @vishwaprasadtg @vivekkuchibotla @peoplemediafcy @negativespace04 #Muthuvel pic.twitter.com/OsedFkcCPK — Sony LIV (@SonyLIV) December 8, 2022

Even with uneven scenes and dialogues, these actors try hard to embody the respective characters with the restored telecast’s emotion and realism.

The rest of the cast is stereotypical, insistent, and uninteresting. That showed a complete lack of attention to casting.

Character development is important in a slow-moving drama like this. But it wasn’t. A sensitive subject alone does not make a film good.

Clever music, good cinematography

On the technical front, the music is cleverly mixed and is haunting and fluid.

Shraddha Srinath in a still from ‘Witness’. (Supplied)

Deepak’s cinematography allows us to ponder the surroundings. The artwork and the costume designs are perfect.

The meaning of a film needn’t always be significant, but if it’s advertised as having an emotional impact, the audience will expect more than what Witness provides.

Unfortunately, the film sounds better than it is. The screenplay is underdeveloped. In short, Witness is a poorly narrated strong subject that sounds profound.

In a nutshell, its content is strong like Ammu and  Jai Bhim . But movies like these work on an emotional level and that’s where Witness falls flat!

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Witness Story

Witness cast & crew.

Witness Crew Info

Frequently asked questions (faqs) about witness.

In this Witness film, Shraddha Srinath , Rohini played the primary leads.

The Witness was released in theaters on 09 Dec 2022.

The Witness was directed by Deepak

Movies like Ilayaraja , Rebel , Emakku Thozhil Romance and others in a similar vein had the same genre but quite different stories.

The soundtracks and background music were composed by Ramesh Thamilmani for the movie Witness.

The cinematography for Witness was shot by Deepak .

You can watch the Witness movie on Sony Liv,.

The movie Witness belonged to the Drama, genre.

Witness User Review

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Witness (2022 film)

Witness is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Deepak. The film stars Shraddha Srinath and Rohini in leading roles. It was released on 9 December 2022 in Sony LIV.

External links

• Shraddha Srinath as Parvathy
• Rohini as Indrani
• Subatra Robert
• Azhagam Perumal
• Shanmugarajan as Sivaprakasam
• G. Selva as Petharaj
• Rajeev Anand
• Thamizharasan as Parthiban

The shoot of the film was completed by December 2021, with the title revealed in May 2022. [1]

The film was released on SonyLIV on 9 December 2022. A critic from The Hindu gave the film a positive review noting it was "a powerful anti-caste film that doesn’t pull any punches" and that "through powerful storytelling, debutant director Deepak and writer Muthuvel’s film raises important questions and shows the sheer savagery that we, the collective society, are ‘witness’ to". [2] A reviewer from The Hindustan Times called it "a hard-hitting social drama on the horrors of manual scavenging". [3] A critic from The New Indian Express wrote that " Witness will be long remembered for the kind of conversations the women have in the film". [4]

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Manual scavenging is a term used mainly in India for "manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or sewer or in a septic tank or a pit". Manual scavengers usually use hand tools such as buckets, brooms and shovels. The workers have to move the excreta, using brooms and tin plates, into baskets, which they carry to disposal locations sometimes several kilometers away. The practice of employing human labour for cleaning of sewers and septic tanks is also prevalent in Bangladesh and Pakistan. These sanitation workers, called "manual scavengers", rarely have any personal protective equipment. The work is regarded as a dehumanizing practice.

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The Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 ( SECC ) was conducted for the 2011 Census of India. The Manmohan Singh government approved the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 to be carried out after discussion in both houses of Parliament in 2010. SECC-2011 was not done under the 1948 Census of India Act and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India was not entrusted to do the same. The SECC 2011 was conducted in all states and union territories of India and the first findings were revealed on 3 July 2015 by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. SECC 2011 is also the first paperless census in India conducted on hand-held electronic devices by the government in 640 districts. The rural development ministry has taken a decision to use the SECC data in all its programmes such as MGNREGA, National Food Security Act, and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana. SECC 2011 was the first caste-based census since 1931 Census of India, and it was launched on 29 June 2011 from the Sankhola village of Hazemara block in West Tripura district.

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• ↑ Chandar, Bhuvanesh (9 December 2022). " 'Witness' movie review: Shraddha Srinath, Rohini in a powerful anti-caste film that doesn't pull any punches" . The Hindu . Archived from the original on 12 December 2022 . Retrieved 12 December 2022 – via www.thehindu.com.
• ↑ "Witness review: A hard-hitting social drama on the horrors of manual scavenging" . Hindustan Times . 9 December 2022. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022 . Retrieved 12 December 2022 .
• ↑ " 'Witness' movie review: An impactful, Multi-layered social commentary" . The New Indian Express . 10 December 2022. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022 . Retrieved 12 December 2022 .

The Witness Tree (2024) ‘IFFR’ Movie Review: Sombre and Subtle Nepalese Short Foregrounds A Devastating Revelation

In Niranjan Raj Bhetwal’s haunting short film, “The Witness Tree,” a long-repressed secret suddenly bursts out into the open. A past that has been held back intrudes upon the present. In its opening scene, set on the cusp of darkness, Sabitri (Sonica Thakuri) is searching for her teenage son, Sridhar (Aditya Ghimire). He may have discovered the real reason behind his father’s untimely death, told to him by his grandfather with whom they live.

Did he hang himself from the jackfruit tree? Who was he really? Deeply upset, Sridhar demands answers from her, which she is still unwilling to offer. At the core of the film is grief and anguish, resentment and loss spun in a yarn that speaks the language of a much-needed closure. If Sabitri thought she could shield her son from the knowledge of the devastating tragedy, she gradually realizes she is losing all sense of control over him. As he turns twelve and his coming-of-age ceremony approaches, it is a deeply loaded moment, symbolic of the internally dramatic flux in the relationship between the mother and the son. The jackfruit tree hovers in their lives with a mute, aching burden.

Bhetwal handles the quietly raging friction that threatens to slip into the mother-son bond with understatement and minimal fuss. The narrative register is muffled, the tone deliberately hushed. This artfully orchestrated restraint obviously mirrors the possibly myriad ways Sabitri has tried to cover up the truth from her son about his father’s death. But how long can she keep the secret fiercely guarded? How does its denial color and affect her equation with her son, which she desperately seeks to preserve? Does it push him farther from her or bring him closer?

Bhetwal’s screenplay gently traverses these questions, but we can sense their quaky underpinnings. The film refrains from delineating the social circumstance and its related specifics but presents us with just enough room for deduction that the characters are part of a strictly knit community where the slightest of transgression wouldn’t go unpunished or be accorded extreme duress.

There’s potential here for great drama, but Bhetwal never lets himself be swept by it. Sandeep Shrestha’s editing astutely allows us to trace a silhouette of all the underlying tension. Yet somehow, the immediacy in the telling ensures the lack of a certain remove that could have propped up. The tussle between the mother and the son is deeply felt, accomplished by the two unobtrusively compelling performances at its center.

Aditya Ghimire grounds the film with a quiet, strong churn, which is the key to the disquiet it conjures. Although he has a presence that rarely overstates itself, there’s an undeniable roiling quality to him, managing to summon silent, subtle exertions. Thakuri is also effective as a woman who might have steeled herself and reassembled her strength and spirit in the years that have passed since her husband’s death but finds herself confronted yet again with its full blow. With her son coming into the undesired knowledge, Sabitri is faced with another tough encounter with her painful past.

Then there’s Sharad Mahato’s extraordinarily evocative cinematography,  buttressed by Kishore Acharya’s textured and immersive sound design, culling melancholy and whiffs of isolation from the staggering landscapes that girdle the characters. While the drama is spare, condensed, and tightly concentrated on barely three characters, the setting, in all its suggestive momentousness and grandeur, is reflective of the larger, silently unfolding sense of time, a phase of which one is attempting to avert, the other unraveling. In its intelligently calibrated and precise straddling of concealment and discovery, “The Witness Tree” reserves an air of mystery that alluringly draws us in.

The Witness Tree had its European premiere at IFFR (International Film Festival Rotterdam) 2024.

The witness tree (2024) movie links: imdb , letterboxd, trending right now.

A devotee of gore and the unsavory but is now drifting to the milder. Envious of anyone who gets the lowdown on recent films, and likes late-night street strolls only to get stalked by random strangers.

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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries. Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries. Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries.

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