We can’t thank enough TVF (The Viral Fever) for gifting some amazing pieces of work over the years. Be it Pitchers, Yeh Meri Family, Tripling or any other series, the company has always entertained us with their work. Same is with their recent creation in the form of Panchayat web series. It features Jitendra Kumar aka Jitu, veterans like Raghubir Yadav, Neena Gupta and other brilliant performers.
The comedy drama saw its arrival during the initial phase of lockdown i.e. April. Unlike any other thrilling web series nowadays (not all), this one didn’t hammer its publicity campaign. Rather, the presenters didn’t thought it as a necessity as TVF’s name is credible enough when it comes to delivering good content. Yes, and with this off-beat dark comedy too, expectations were full filled.
To be very honest, Panchayat feels like a breath of fresh air, as web content is slowly becoming stereotyped. Set in rural backdrop, the series shows harsh realities of not-so-developed India or to be more profound, Bharat. And mind it when we say harsh realities, because it does shows a dark side of rural administration, but in a lighter tone. There’s no need to always over dramatised the content and same has been done beautifully by Deepak Kumar Mishra.
Nowadays, it has become a trend of including obscenity for no reason and tonnes of curse words. Fortunately, Panchayat stands out in that case and maintains its rawness. Yes, there are couple of abusive words but it don’t seem as forcefull. For those who are fans of rural dramas and comedies, this one is a sheer treat. It’s not loud and there’s a breeze of freshness in each episode. Be it ‘Bhutiya Ped’ storyline or political scenario of village, the matter has a truthful execution with some genuine fun and thought provoking moments.
On the performance front, Jitendra Kumar is excellent and proves his ability to naturally enact his character. Seasoned actors, Raghubir Yadav and Neena Gupta are flawless and anything more isn’t needed to describe them. Faisal Malik and Chandan Roy deserves a special mention who make you laugh and remind you of stereotype people who are always with village’s Pradhan.
On the whole, Panchayat is a true feast, but unfortunately it didn’t get that much attention during its release. But with time, word-of-mouth is doing its magic as the series is consistently performing good on its official streaming platforms. If you haven’t watched it yet, please go and watch it right away. And if you have watched it, go have a look at it again as it’s definitely not a one time watch.
(streaming platform- Amazon Prime Video)