Marginalized Life of Manual Scavengers: Questions of Witness Towards Society

Abstract

In recent days, Tamil cinema has reached a wide range in marketing and popularity across the globe, gaining attention around the world through its style and techniques. Critics and researchers highlight and celebrate the recent changes in Tamil cinema as the ‘New Wave’. It readies to change gears in the aspects of theme, narration and choice of portraying the characters. Tamil cinema became a medium to express the voice of suppressed people. Directors pinpoint issues such as identity crisis, domestic violence and political ideologies. The issues and problems of subaltern people were totally neglected in Tamil cinema, but now they reflect reality. Witness is one of the movies on that list that discusses the pain of manual scavengers. The movie is not an emotional drama; rather, it questions society from different perspectives. It depicts the lives, sufferings and struggles of manual scavengers. The film not only raises questions but also serves as an answer to tangible questions. This paper discusses and highlights the literary works that mainly torched out the problems of manual scavengers in the present and past.