If some fans were let down by Season 3 of Panchayatone of the best-loved series on OTT, for not maintaining its breezy Malgudi Days-like momentum, they are now in for a delightful surprise.
The eagerly-awaited Season 4, streaming on Amazon Prime Video from Tuesday (June 24), takes a sharp turn as ‘dirty’ politics reigns in Phulera, disrupting the fictional village’s nonchalant rhythm and bucolic charm. Yet, the world of Phulera continues to captivate.
Steering away from light-hearted fun, Season 4 packs in an aggressive election campaign, an anti-corruption raid, a near-Judas-like defection and a simmering romance between Sachiv-ji (Jitendra Kumar) and Rinky (Sanvikaa) that finally takes off and at an astonishing speed, on top of the water tank where they first met.
Yes, there are times when it drags and feels contrived, especially during a race to clean a stinky school bathroom. Or an unfunny pressure cooker scene featuring the scheming Banrakas (Durgesh Kumar).
But those who fell in love with the unhurried pace of life in Phulera, its well-developed characters, and the city-bred Sachiv-ji’s never-ending challenges battling humdrum issues will tumble right back into this world.
The credit goes to the Panchayat team, including writer Chandan Kumar, for keeping the essence of the show alive and for developing more “situations” to keep viewers invested. They are no longer slice-of-life moments, but it still works.
An anti-corruption raid leads to a laugh-riot (watch out for Bam Bahadur’s comical antics); the close-knit ‘Hi’ gang — SachivjiPradhan (Raghubir Yadav), Prahlad Pandey (Faisal Malik) and Vikas (Chandan Roy) — face troubles by as they try to find an electrician for Phulera; and, above all, an election campaign takes ‘vicious’ turns (by village standards).
Panchayat’s veneer of wholesomeness begins to crack as the villagers, especially the opposition, turn vile, stooping to conquer (it’s not confined to city folks). But this descent is dismissed as nothing but the face of ugly ‘poli-tics’ by Pradhanjiwho sees his throne slipping away and delivers an emotional monologue on how politics depends on deception and trickery. “Khel sakte ho toh khelo (If you can play the game, then play it),” he says bitterly.
Also read: Panchayat Season 4 drops on June 24: How it became India’s best-loved series
In this season, we mostly see a downcast Pradhan without his merry twinkle, deeply frustrated by his inability to play the game of politics. Even his wife seems more adept at it, while Banrakas and his wife Kranti Devi (Sunita Rajwar) upstage him at every stage.
The crafty duo uses every crooked ploy to show Pradhanji as an inept leader in the eyes of Phulera. Banrakas joins forces with foul-mouthed, unstable local MLA, Vidhayakaji (Pankaj Jha), to help him win the Panchayat council elections. Will the good triumph over the wicked?
In a bid to offer relief from the silly one-upmanship games between Banrakas and Pradhanji, Panchayat tries to switch gears by introducing two new characters: Pradhanji’s father-in-law, a seemingly wise old man, and a lively, bright kid named Bill Clinton Kumar. Both seem like pointless additions and disappear as quickly as they arrive.
One can’t help but miss the drama queen (Abha Sharma as the old mother of Jagmohan), who memorably eyed a house under Indira Awas Vikas Yojana in Season 3; her line, ‘Bas mann andar se acha nahi lag raha hai (I just don’t feel good from the inside)’ became the fodder for memes.
Also read: Mirzapur Season 3 review: The tale of a blood-soaked throne, lost in its own ambition
Awkward Vinod (Ashok Pathak) gets more screen time as one episode is devoted to defection. What’s a fiercely fought election without a few turncoats? So, Vinod, an innocent and good-hearted soul, is wooed by Bhushan aka Banrakas and his wife Manju Devi with plates of Puris and sevai.
However, Vinod turns them down, stating, “I am poor but not a traitor.” Is this meant to suggest that the villagers occupy a higher moral ground in politics? That illusion gets dashed soon when the sinister MP, Saansad ji (Swanand Kirkire), brokers an unsavoury deal with Pandey and Pradhanji to replace the MLA.
Another welcome diversion is the attraction brewing between Sachivji and Rinki. However, the series rushes through their romance skipping scenes of their confessions of love for each other. There simply aren’t enough scenes between them. This is disappointing as it was one of the carrots dangled at the end of the stick each season.
Jitendra Kumar continues to hold a steady grip on his character: the city-slicker-turned-village-panchayat-secretary, who has organically slid into the Phulera universe. His sights remain firmly set on scoring high in his MBA exams and eventually leaving the village. In the meantime, he dives headlong into Phulera’s all-pervasive politics and openly backs Manju Devi.
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Veteran actor Neena Gupta, however, seems to falter this season as she wears a perpetual expression of exasperation. Is it disinterest or is she not convinced about where the series is headed? After all, in a recent interview, Gupta acknowledged that Panchayat gave her pan-India recognition, which even her iconic Choli ke peeche days in Hindi cinema could never do.
The music in Panchayat continues to be peppy and upbeat, which adds value, while the cinematography goes beyond generic drone shots, getting sharper and more inventive in well-lit, neatly framed night scenes.
Despite its snags, director Deepak Kumar Mishra and The Viral Fever (TVF), the makers, have to take a bow. Maybe the tone has switched tracks since the light-hearted first season in 2020, but the series continues to hold your interest and entertain even in its fourth avatar.
The good news is that Panchayat is not calling it a day. In the last episode, our hero Sachivji pointedly mentions that he has three more months to go before he leaves Phulera — a clear signal that Season 5 is on the horizon.
