Panchayat- Good ol’days

Gone are the days when the TV shows were simple, down to earth. TV shows today range from millennial/Gen Z targeted reality programs to middle-age crowd pleasing high voltage drama shows. Even the OTT platforms tend to lean towards a more fast-paced urban high concept shows.

Long before satellite television hit India in early 90s, our living rooms were used to unpretentious shows such as Malgudi Days, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Tenali Rama, Dada Dadi Ki Kahaniyan, Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne. The storyline was uncomplicated and far easy to comprehend. 30 mins of your screen time would help you devour a lot of rich content. Many of these shows were based in the heartland of India far away from the busy bylanes of metro India.

Our generation has become acclimated to the content that is thrown to us in whichever medium possible. Even a short 1 min Tik Tok video is easily devoured without any complaints. But most of this content is short lived probably the right fit for ADDs (Attention Deficit Disorder). I am not denying that good content is completely lost. However they are far and few.

After having watched the trailer of TVF’s Panchayat, I was hoping that this does not end up making mockery of the rural landscape of India. However I was wrong. 10 mins into the 1^st episode of this show I was pulled in by the centripetal force of this amazing web series. TVF is a content focused production house which has given some nice shows in the past (Permanent Roommates, Tripling, Tech Conversations with Dad, Kota Factory-still watching). But this one hit the right notes. Right from the casting to screenplay and direction, everything is top-notch.

The proceedings in the show move forward so easily that you start feeling as if you are in the village and are experiencing this. Everything looks so real. Right from the road leading to the Phulera Panchayat office to the small beedi/snack shop and desi daru shop. The water tank brings back memories of Dharam shouting to Mausiji. Pradhan’s house is a typical village house where the bikes/cycles are kept inside the house and so are the cows. Pradhan Pati offering Lauki/bottle gourd to his deputy and Abhishek evokes hearty chuckle.

 Jitendra Kumar as the Abhishek,village secretary is caught up between his ambitions to do MBA and running the sarpanch office. Initial few episodes focus on how difficult it is for him to get adjusted to this life style with no electricity at night for his CAT studies, dealing with chudail (fake news) and unreluctantly showing hospitality to the bridegroom. However he comes into his element once he starts bonding well with fellow villagers (Vikas, Prahlad and Pradhan pati).  I am talking about the episode where he has a sudden outburst of emotions because of him staying alone in the village with no one to talk to and the sweet eye watering treatment given to him by these 3 guys.

Raghuveer Yadav as the Pradhan Pati as always is top notch. Notice the way he looks at Abhishek during that outburst scene and the scene where the district magistrate is in the village on 26^th Jan. I don’t think anyone would have done justice to this role. He is complemented well by Neena Gupta (the Rabri Devi version of Phulera). Her presence is limited in the initial few episodes. However the screen time increases as the show moves on. She completely owns the last episode of the series where she has to step up during the Republic Day celebrations. Best dialogues and punch liners of the show are reserved for her.

The show ends on a very sweet note. I wish they had longer or more episodes. The dish was consumed so fast that yeh Dil Maange More. Hope scripting has already started on the next season. Till then onto Kota Factory.