Sunday, April 12, 2020

#PANCHAYAT my TV pick this week

Blog Posted:
4th April 2020 Calcutta

You unpretentious little gem. #Panchayat #TVF’s web series for #AmazonPrime Video starring #JitendraKumar (Jeetu Bhaiyya as I call him fondly) as a reluctant public servant ... is a find. This one takes you back to your DD days in a time warp ... with familiar faces, old world dialogues, life and times that seem not too distant. From a past when India was very easy going, de-stressed, un-satellite TV’d and simple.

Thank you baby for recommending this one. It is such a brilliant, in your face, honest to god, series. #DipakKumarMishra you genius!



It’s delightful to see a narrative sticking so close to just how real this “real-India” can get for a regular CAT aspiring, urban, cynical, irritable, bored, weekend seeking, educated, demotivated “Isssnooogood”. Jeetu does a rather slow but steady journey from being an annoyed, completely lost and disillusioned soul to a heartwarmingly brave and rather efficient village level bureaucrat!
Panchayat has the unique distinction of going from hilarious to hardcore in minutes. The frames are done so disarmingly, keeping the village life, the disconnect between the urban and rural, from expressions to characters- so effective and untainted. The lines they spout are light, effortless, not trying too hard.

The warmth radiates in all directions and infects every human of Phulera. Pradhan Brij Bhushan’s lackey Prahlad (Faisal Malik) has a gentle giant air about him, while (Jeetu) Abhishek’s assistant Vikas (Chandan Roy) is unfailingly loyal and mild mannered despite flaring tempers all around despite being talked down by his boss at most cross-ends.
Every single shot is seamless, making the edits... so effing tight. It’s how TV ought’ be with new age tech. Clever and sharp.

The dialogues are witty, tugging at your heart strings, ever so gently. The humour... is loud and subtle. It’s hearty like wet mud after a bout of rain and light as the breeze that blows after the rain washes all the mud away.
The storyline doesn’t mess with your brain, but picks on the most elementary of life events and makes them so much larger than life and yet so innocent that you fall in line like a child... episode after episode...unaware of just when you stopped being all “city” and started enjoying the sights and sounds of this back of beyond village Phulera.

The crew that has put this series together, has really done its homework. They have made sure that the “days in the life of Sachiv Babu” of gram panchayat come alive for you, in so so many unusual and delightful ways.
How does one say this... it’s so utterly rural, that it’s almost urban in its nonchalance. It’s written to make you chuckle. And feel bad. And happy. And sorry. And tempted. And silly. And funny in all sorts of old time ways.

Add to that the joy of watching #RaghubirYadav as (Faux) Pradhan and his chimta wielding firm as a firewall wife #NeenaGupta share screen space once more. That in itself transmogrified me into my good old childhood state.
So earnest and definitively honest, this village saga, that I am forced to binge watch, despite more pressing, hungry and somewhat holier domestic duty calls. 🤓
Just Do yourselves a favour ... stop reading this blog and start watching the damn series! You can thank my post later.

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