Geetha Sakshiga starring debutante Aadarsh, and Chitra Shukla under Anthony Mattipalli is releasing on 22 March 2023 as a Ugadi treat. The film's teaser and trailer sent the message that it is a hard-hitting drama with powerful dialogues. The film's OTT partner is yet to be finalized and streaming will be done after the end of its theatrical run. Let us find out how Geetha Sakshiga entertained movie lovers.
Geetha Sakshiga's story is all about atrocities against women and how influential forces and powers that be wash their hands off. Arjun (Aadarsh) finds himself in trouble when CI Shankar (Bharani Shankar) arrests him for the brutal rape and murder of a girl Manisha. When the Court sentences him to life imprisonment, all the doors are closed for him and the future looks bleak.
Whether Arjun is innocent or guilty and what connection his girlfriend Amulya (Chitra Shukla), friend Satya (Sudarshan), ACP Roopesh Shetty (Roopesh Shetty), lawyer Joseph (Srikanth Iyengar) and Home Minister (Raja Ravindra) has from the rest of the story.
Aadarsh on debut worked hard to make an impression. Though he did not have the looks, he showed good ease with his body language. He emoted well as a caring son, a youngster in love, and a person who undergoes pain and torture in jail. Chitra Shukla looked good on the screen. She attracted in traditional outfits in the songs. She surprises all as the lawyer in the second half. She performed well and got good dialogues which she delivered in an impactful manner.
Srikanth Iyengar played the role of the lawyer to perfection. The role is tailor-made for him. Sudarshan as the hero's friend did what was required of him. Raja Ravindra as the Home Minister just performed as per the role. He got nothing much to do, except deliver a few dialogues. Bharani Shankar and Roopesh Shetty are ok in their roles.
Geetha Sakshiga's story readied by Anthony Mattipalli is a hard-hitting one highlighting the crimes against women in society. Anthony Mattliappali starts the narration in an intense and interesting manner with the arrest of the protagonist and then shows the flashback. Though the pace in the narration dipped at times, he stuck to the point and did not deviate from the main point except here and there.
He showed the protagonist in a passive way till the interval. Throughout the first half, he highlighted the hero, his family members, and the happy moments with a couple of investigation scenes. The second half picks up the pace with the hero deciding to take on his opponents. The story of Anthony Mattipalli is routine and offered nothing new.
However, he made it up with his screenplay which is racy for most of the part and direction. During the investigation and the courtroom scenes, Anthony Mattipalli has taken many cinematic liberties. If one ignores them without going into the logic, one can enjoy the film.
Kishore Maddali's editing is ok. It could have been better in a few places as some scenes slowed the tempo. Venkatahanuma Nariseti's cinematography is appealing. He used camera angles to turn the scenes beautifully. Gopi Sunder elevated the scenes with his background music. Most of the songs are situational and they are tuned in a melodious manner and are shot in the backdrop of exotic locations. Dialogues though routine is powerful and impactful. The production values of Chetan Raj Films are quite good.
Altogether, Geetha Sakshiga is a decent courtroom drama. Director Anthony got adequate performances from the actors and with a few interesting twists and turns, he keeps viewers glued to the screen. Dialogues are good and thought-provoking. But the narration and screenplay are affected by routine elements and illogical scenes. Had he paid more attention to the investigation and courtroom scenes and plugged the loopholes, Geetha Sakshiga would have made a better impact. Considering all these elements, Cinejosh goes with a 1.75 Rating for Geetha Sakshiga.