Delightful Capture of the Essence of Rural India in “Panchayat”

“Panchayat” is a delightful comedy drama series by TVF. It is streamed on Amazon Prime. One of the most popular, feel- good series, captures the essence of rural India, and relatable, simplistic life style and mindset of people in it.
The awards-winning series, Panchayat chronicles the life of a city-bred engineering graduate Abhishek Tripathy( Jitendra Kumar) who joins as a Panchayat secretary in a remote fictional village of Phulera in Uttar Pradesh, due to lack of better job options.
Initially he struggles to understand the village culture and when frustrated, even decides to go back and do MBA, after clearing CAT examination.

By Mahadev Desai

He lives in a small office building with bare amenities. He tries to study at night but is distracted by mosquitoes, power outages, snakes and other problems.
He tries to get a solar lamp but first he has to pacify the villagers who believe that there is a ghost under the tree, and the lamp ought to be put up there! He buys a comfortable revolving chair for himself but has to give it away to placate bridegroom Ganesh who marries Rinki (Sanvikka)’s friend Raveena. His monitor also is stolen but thankfully returned by the thief with a note saying that the latter mistook it for a TV! 
Gradually Abhishek begins to like the place and its people. Vikas (Chandan Roy) is his helpful right-hand man as he is familiar with the village and its ways. He also earns trust and friendship of Upa Pradhan Prahlad (Faisal Malik), Pradhan Manju Devi (Neena Gupta); her husband and ex- Pradhan Brij Bhushan (Raghuvir Yadav).

Abhishek is told by the BDO to supervise slogans promoting family planning in the village. One of the slogans, “Do bacche meethi Kheer, do se jyaada bawaseer" compares children born, after the first two, to a case of piles. The residents, instigated by the troublemaker Bhushan (Durgesh Kumar), are outraged and demand removal of the slogan, but Manju Devi advises her husband not to budge and keep the slogan.
Abhishek didn’t do well in CAT exam. At Republic celebrations, the village Pradhan is supposed to perform the flag hoisting ceremony, but Abhishek learns that instead of Manju Devi, her husband performs the ceremony. Manju Devi is upset as she feels she should be performing the ceremony. Abhishek helps her by teaching her how to sing the anthem. But she finds it difficult to sing. Abhishek doubts if she can perform the flag hoisting ceremony. The DM attends the ceremony and Abhishek is worried about Manju Devi. But he is surprised when she turns up at the event,and unfurls the flag and also sings the National anthem (with bit of help from her husband!). This inspires Abhishek and he decides to try CAT exam. again. Abhishek and Rinki, who are of similar age, are attracted to each other, but their love has not blossomed fully yet.

In the second season of the series, Abhishek has to face a few issues created by Bhushan and corrupt, arrogant MLA Chandrakishore (Pankaj Jha). Bhushan is a successful businessman and has a plan to make his wife Kranti Devi contest the upcoming election. He confronts Abhishek and complains about the bumpy dusty road connecting Phulera village to the highway.
Phulera has ODF (Open Defecation Free) status but the DM decides to visit the village to check if it is ODF or not. Bhushan persuades a villager to go and defecate in the field while the DM is nearby but Abhishek, Vikas and Prahlad save the situation.
Villagers were excited and also curious when CCTV cameras were installed in the village. A camera near a Temple, captures Manju Devi, when leavings the Temple, mistakenly wears Kranti Devi’s sandals and goes home. Bhushan and his two tea-sipping and tobacco-chewingbuddies Vinod and Mangal after seeing the footage, threaten Abhishek, that they would report to the police that Manju Devi stole the slippers! To save the ugly situation, Abhishek quickly deletes the footage!

Another big problem is getting funds from the self-promoting, scheming and cruel MLA Chandrakishore, for repairing the road. He insults Abhishek, Vikas and Prahlad when they go to see him. The rude MLA has particular dislike for Abhishek.
Despite all this, Brij Bhushan is thinking of inviting the MLA to Phulera. Manju Devi advises her husband that he should invite him to attend a three days devotional puja event. When Bhushan learns this, he tries to get maximum attention and favors of the MLA. By supplying chairs, tents etc. He even prominently displays his name on the huge banner!
But events take a turn just on the eve of the event. Prahlad who is a widower has a son Rahul, serving in the army in Kashmir. While he, Abhishek, Vikas and Brij Bhushan are enjoying their beer party, Prahlad receives a call that his son has been martyred. Prahlad breaks down following the call and his colleagues try to console and comfort him.

The village residents and media team join together in a procession when the army squad arrive s with Rahul’s body. The village residents also try to console grieving Prahlad and after the army squad gives a respectful sendoff, Prahlad’s close friends help to perform the ceremonial rituals, The whole ceremony is accompanied by heartrending song “khali khali sa”.
When wily Chandrakishore heard the news, he decided to attend the cremation ceremony for his political gains. He is however unable to show his fake sympathy, as Manju Devi with the support of the village ladies confronts him and asks him to leave. Infuriated MLA blames Abhishek for this and decides to transfer him to another village. Season 2 concludes showing Rinki informing her mother that an official letter has arrived informing about Abhisheks’ transfer.
 

The series is directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra and scripted by Chandan Kumar. The soundtrack and score of the series were composed by Anurag Saikia, whilst the cinematography and editing were performed by Amitabha Singh and Amit Kulkarni, respectively.
Season 1 with 8 episodes premiered on April 3,2020. Season 2 with 8 episodes on May 18,2022.
This is a MUST WATCH TVF series. Please note that Season 3 also with 8 episodes is also available for viewing after May 28,2024.