Web
series? Oh, no. We can’t watch it with family, you know, they’re full of sex
scenes and slangs…. Well, if you’ve come across such statements, you can now
answer their dilemma with this name: Panchayat. It is a saaf-suthri web
series created by
TVF and streaming on Amazon Prime. Set in a sleepy, remote village named Fulaira
in district Fukauli(oh, wait. What?) somewhere in UP, (NO SPOILERS AHEAD) the
story revolves round a young urban college-passout and IIM aspirant named
Abhishek Tripathi (played by Jitendra Kumar) He completes his graduation and
clears competitive exam for the government job. His life witnesses a sea change
when he is deputed as a Sachiv (Secretary) in that weirdly named village.
Shifting from a world of instagram and instant maggie to a messy, tacky and
dusty government office in a tiny hamlet is not a cake walk. He naturally
undergoes diasporic angst and slowly starts exploring lives of the villagers,
and then….. Oh ok, enough!
It is definitely not
flawless but one should begin with the brighter side of the coin. Right? This
light-hearted, short series is noteworthy for its offbeat theme, rustic locale
and powerful performances. When you have Raghubir Yadav and Neena Gupta in lead
roles, what you get is an absolute paisa-vasool performance. As a
Pradhan couple, they are absolutely convincing and their on-screen chemistry is
also charming. However, acting of youngsters like Faisal Malik and Chandan Roy
is a treat to the eyes. Initial awkwardness between Abhishek and others
resulting from the rift created by their social background is shown
beautifully. Uncanny experiences and problems that he goes through and their jugaad
type solutions, gullibile villagers, etc also deserve a mention here.
Gandhiji famously said
that the rural India is the real India. Majority of the people living there are
still deprived of the basics. Even after seven decades of independence, they
have not tasted the fruit of VIKAAS (Social Development) and they still
grapple with age-old issues like power cut, lack of infrastructure etc. However
‘Panchaayat’ presents no socialism or didactic verbalism about it. It
simply presents reality as it is. Problems like dowry, patriarchy, population,
superstition and likewise have been dealt with in and an easy and light-hearted
manner.
Funny dialogues in
typical local dialects are icing on the cake. Cinematography and background
score are other plus points of the series.
Having said this much,
it must be noted that the screenplay could have been much better, much tighter
to be precise. There are few moments which would make viewers yawn. Admittedly,
there is not typical, cliché story-line with intro-middle-end type structure
but plot should have been more symmetrical. There is no nail-biting moments at
the end of an episode, no ‘one more episode please’ type temptation.
To watch or not to
watch, that is the question. Right? Definitely worth watching for its realism,
humor, performances and witty statements but over-expectation may lead you to
disappointment. So, choice is yours!
IMDB Rating: - 8.9/10
