Hit series 'Panchayat' to return for 4th season in July; what makes it so popular?

The series ‘Panchayat’ first landed in the middle of the pandemic lockdown. The simple story set in India’s hinterland, a remote village called Phulera in Uttar Pradesh, sans guns, goons, gore and sex, captured millions of hearts.

Quite simply, it became a hit show.

A winning blend of rural charm, relatable characters, and heartfelt storytelling made it a huge success.

How does a city hick, an engineering graduate cope, when he is forced to take up a secretarial post at a village panchayat in Uttar Pradesh? Parallels were drawn to IAS youngster Agastya Sen’s angst and confusion in Upamanyu Chatterjee’s 1988 novel, English, August.

But, the character Abhishek Tripathi (played by Jitendra Kumar) has more than found his feet, it seems, as he cleverly learns to tussle with village politics and the quirky characters he encounters.

For Prime Video on Thursday (April 3) announced that it has renewed popular series "Panchayat" for yet another season. The fourth season will arrive on the streamer on July 2.

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The comedy drama, which premiered with its first season in April 2020, was an instant hit on Prime Video and garnered an overwhelming response leading to a second season that came out in May 2022. Its third chapter was released last year.

Besides Kumar, the other cast members like Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav, Faisal Malik, Chandan Roy, Sanvikaa, Durgesh Kumar, Sunita Rajwar, and Pankaj Jha will also reprise their characters in the fourth season. Produced by The Viral Fever (TVF), Panchayat has been created by Deepak Kumar Mishra and Chandan Kumar.

The makers announced the new season as the show marked its fifth-year anniversary.

So, what really makes Panchayat like the Family Man, a highly popular and much-loved series?

Simple storytelling

Panchayat shines for its simple premise and simple storytelling. It sticks an urban fellow into a village setting as a panchayat secretary in a UP village much against his wishes, setting off the template for comic situations. But there are layered subplots and even more layered characters and their hubris and humaneness are explored in depth.

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In Panchayat, for two seasons, mundane is often made momentous. (The third season, however, did not get rave reviews as it got too “political” and lacked punch)

The setting and memorable characters

The audience loves the languid setting of the village Phulera. Apparently nothing (and everything) is happening in this seemingly quiet village. But the eclectic ensemble cast have worked magic and seem to power Panchayat on.

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Jitendra Kumar as city boy Tripathi, Neena Gupta as the village Pradhan, Raghubir Yadav as her officious husband the “Pradhan-pati,” Faisal Malik as his deputy Prahlad, and Chandan Roy as Tripathi’s naive assistant, are all relatable and play their roles to perfection. Old-timer Neena Gupta seems to be the show’s 'beating heart, and often its mirror of reason', say critics.

Lessons to learn

The series also explores issues like masculinity, self-worth, empathy, and, perhaps most importantly, about not being taken in by first impressions. There are lessons, including corporate ones, that experts believe one can glean from this series. Most importantly, it teaches you how to survive on the job despite all the odds stacked against you.

Grist for memes

Panchayat offers a lot of material for social media, it seems. There are specific scenes and dialogues from the comedy-drama series that have particularly captured the imagination of internet users. And so, they pop up as memes, GIFs, dialogue clips. The characters too are so etched in people's minds that they are often used to drive home some message.

Abhishek’s friend Siddharth doing a snake dance before a buffalo before being kicked by the animal is a popular meme, for example. And then, of course, are Jeetu’s death stares.