Witness follows the story behind a death of a 20 year old boy after a manual scavenging act. Will justice prevail? The story here is supremely relevant and very powerful. A year back I had seen a documentary on manual scavenging by Samdhish Bhatia, and that was shocking in many ways. It was a ground report on lives of some of the manual scavengers while they were on duty. By the end of it, I did feel bummed down and extremely low. Surely in the 21st century there are better equipments that would eradicate the manual work in this area. But if still people are coaxed into perform these duties then it is a shame and it angers me to no limit. And a similar case has been shown here. The screenplay standing at a shade above 2 hours is the right length but because the drama is so heavy that it becomes a little difficult to binge watch this.

The drama opens with the introduction of the young boy and his mother and it is shown that both of them do have a beautiful relationship. But that is short lived when tragedy strikes almost within the first 10 minutes out of the blue! I did like the writing here which chose not to waste any time on the buildup and get straight to the point. The incident is a bit of the jolt but the worse is yet to come. I really liked how the politics around the manual scavenging was tapped into. The politics here is not at the high level but at the grassroot level atleast to begin with.

The drama is a slow burn and tactfully taps into the dynamics of all the stakeholders involved. From initially trying to buy off the victim’s family to the feeble threats being thrown in, the issues being dealt here are disturbing and most likely to make you angry. In fact, winning at any cost was the norm in the drama as a result of which every opposition was trampled along the way, in a sad state of affairs. There is a subplot featuring the character of Shraddha Srinath who is on the other side of the spectrum yet does wish to offer health only to be obstructed and vandalized at various junctures. But amidst the chaos, the life that has been lost is given less importance to with only the mother being the real victim of the situation. Having to burden the loss of a child is probably the worst thing for a parent, more so a mother, and that aspect has been tapped into rather well.

There is a documentary feel to the drama in a few scenes that do act as a mirror for the society. The courtroom scenes has a dash of situational humour although the proceedings are very interesting as they unfold. The level of politics is taken a notch higher in these scenes wherein the authorities are questioned as each one of them does keep ‘passing the buck’ at every juncture. For the viewer this does become frustrating and the writing does lead you on this emotion. There is also a subplot of the mother being heckled by authorities by not paying her salary, all of which constitute the ‘system’ that all of us are part of. The final act is a moving one wherein you do feel angered and helpless despite all the evidence pointing towards the other side. The writing here is a subtle satire in many ways too instead of the in your face kind of approach that overall sums up a screenplay that is quietly powerful and supremely relevant.