The recent release of Panchayat had me thrilled when I saw the talented cast along with the reputed name of TVF on it. So, decided to watch it and let me tell you, it is an absolute delight.
What’s it about?
Panchayat can be best described as a slow burn that will make you go through the daily struggle of an ambitious yet mediocre engineering student after he lands a job as a panchayat secretary. His journey of adjusting to life in a village is a treat to watch for people from all age groups, especially for youngsters. You will often see himself reflecting his disappointment after seeing the social media posts of his friends, who have ‘made it’ in his definition. As I have now watched it, here is a spoiler-free review of the beautiful web series.
Premise
Panchayat follows a pretty basic and relatable premise that will take you through the journey of Abhishek, played by Jitendra Kumar, as he tries to get accustomed to the life of a panchayat secretary in rural India. The story is based around a village in Uttar Pradesh named Phulera. You will get to see the real situation and everyday life of rural India. You will understand the pressure that students have to face for getting the jobs and how they have to adjust according to what life throws at them.
Performances
Jitendra Kumar as Abhishek shows real class in every scene he appears in. His response to the situations he faces seems engaging and convincing to say the least. In short, he perfectly portrays the character and does it proper justice.
The supporting cast do no less and Raghubir Yadav as Brij Bhushan and Neena Gupta as Manju Devi have done great jobs as typical villagers. Manju Devi being the alpha and Brij Bhushan being the subservient husband and the constant bickering they do accounts for some hilarious scenes throughout the series.
Prahlad, played by Faisal Malik, who is an aid to Brij Bhushan is also engaging. His presence in the story adds to a lot of emotions and funny scenes.
Everyone has played their role perfectly however, Vikas, played by Chandar Roy will absolutely blow you away. The relationship between him and Abhishek is a highlight of the web series. He helps Abhishek to get used to the customs of the village and acts as his friend in a place where he feels like a stranger. His performance looks genuine and his dialogue and emotions throughout the whole series are always hilarious and on point.
General overview
As viewers, our expectations from a web series is that it will provide a lot of twists and turns and will be engaging throughout. This however is not the case with panchayat. It has a slow pace which will make you aware of the real basic problems of India, instead of showing flashy sets and foreign locations. The constant pressure on Abhishek will make you feel related to him. The story tries to keep it as real as possible, which is the best thing about it. Millennials will complain about lack of activity, high predictability, and a slow setting, but that is genuinely what makes it special in the first place.
Final Words
My final verdict for this web series is that you should definitely give it a try if you love beautiful storytelling, real dialogues, amazing casts, and amazing location and set designs.
