The series is one of the finest creations from TVF. The first season premiered on Amazon Prime on April 3, 2020. This period coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in our country, leading to widespread closures. Schools and offices were shut down indefinitely, and people were advised to stay indoors.
With nothing to do at home, the general public turned to their TV screens. Consequently, people either watched devastating news or sought solace in movies to escape the surrounding grief. This scenario led to a sudden boom in OTT platforms. During this time, the first season of Panchayat was released on OTT, like many other web series.
Soon, there was a strong buzz around the series. Whoever watched it became attached to it, and word of mouth spread rapidly. Even amidst the pandemic, Panchayat was trending. Series 1 consisted of 8 episodes, each with a runtime of 20 to 45 minutes. The total playtime of this Hindi comedy-drama TV series was 4 hours and 5 minutes.
All the relevant details about the web series Panchayat, including the director, producer, writer, star cast, production company, IMDb ratings, distribution platform, duration of episodes, and more, are provided in the table below:
| Genre | Comedy drama |
| Written by | Chandan Kumar |
| Directed by | Dheeraj Kumar Mishra |
| Starring | Jitendra Kumar, Raghubir Yadav, Neena Gupta, Chandan Roy, Faisal Malik |
| Music by | Anurag Saikia |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Hindi |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Executive producer | Sameer Saxena |
| Cinematography | Amitabha Singh |
| Editor | Amit Kulkarni |
| Running time | 20–45 minutes |
| IMDb Rating | 8.9/10 |
| Production company | The Viral Fever |
| Original network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Original release | Season 1 -03 April 2020 Season 2-20 May 2022 Season 3-28 May 2024 |
Here’s a short synopsis of the first season. The story revolves around the remote village of Phulera, Uttar Pradesh. It follows the life of Abhishek Tripathi (played by Jitendra Kumar), an engineering graduate who lands his first job as the secretary of a panchayat office. He is frustrated with himself as his other colleagues are well placed off in bigger towns, and he is stuck in this small village performing a menial job. He yearns to clear the MBA entrance exam (CAT) someday, which will get him out of this place.
As the story progresses, three other characters are introduced, namely Brij Bhushan Dubey (Pradhan Pati), played by Raghubir Yadav; Prahlad Pandey (Upp Pradhan), played by Faisal Malik; and Vikas (Office Assistant), played by Chandan Roy. The spontaneity and innocence of these characters add the real masala to the storyline.
The small talks of the village, the tradition of giving and helping somebody. The family treatment that an outsider receives in a village. How the marriage ceremony is conducted in a village. In fact, the very popular meme “Gajab Beijati Hai” is the bye product of this web series. All such feelings will tickle your senses.
At the same time, you can feel the pain of the ambitious main character at the end of each episode. It directly resonates with people who are working or have worked in rural areas during the early days of their careers. Life is very slow, with no pastime on weekends. Fortunately, one fine day, Abhishek gets in touch with Pradhan’s beautiful daughter, which brings a little smile to his face.
The character of Pradhan, namely Mrs. Manju Devi, is played by Neena Gupta. She is the Pradhan of the village only in papers, whereas his husband attends to all the tasks and meetings of the Panchayat. Since she is illiterate, she considers herself to be good at household work and leaves the rest for her husband to handle. A situation in the story arises wherein she is forced to come to the forefront as the Pradhan of the village. That sets the tone for Season 2 of the web series.
After the success of Season 1, the wait for Season 2 was unbearable. It was the same feeling as somebody might be feeling for the release of Bahubali 2 after watching the first part. After a two-year gap, Season 2 finally got released on May 18, 2022. It has a total of 8 episodes, with an average running time ranging between 29 and 46 minutes.
The second part lived up to the audience’s expectations and consisted of lots of twists and turns. It would be unwise to enumerate the gist of the episodes of such an epic web series. It’s a visual treat for an aching soul. Therefore, if you haven’t watched it, go and watch it at the earliest, or else you won’t be able to follow the upcoming season.
Season 3 got released on May 28, 2024. It consists of 8 episodes in total. The web series has again hit the bull’s eye. But this season is more of a serious type. The previous episodes which were known for portraying innocence can no longer be found. Though, there are some light moments, which you will cherish. In a nutshell, the new Panchayat season is all about politics. So do watch it.
The season has again ended on a very promising note, which is a clear indication that part 4 may be coming in future.
Lastly, do share your views and I’ll see you next season.
For more audience reviews on Panchayat web series you can click on below listed links:
IMDb- CLICK HERE
Quora-CLICK HERE