Panchayat S04 Demonstrates that TVF’s Flagship Show Now Only Cares About the Memes

In its fourth season, TVF’s Panchayat appears to be in cruise control. It is now a hit show whose inevitable success and assured paychecks have spawned a season that is merely a stepping stone for its bombastic final season. Doing its own spin on an English, August-esque premise of a city-bred, socially-passive young man moving to a village as a lowly government employee, gradually getting immersed in its affairs – Panchayat used to be a modestly political, and tautly written show featuring an ensemble of terrific actors.

However, after its sparkling initial success, the show’s writing has noticeably declined (especially in its last two seasons). It seems to be suffering from what I like to call the fill-in-the-blanks approach of screenwriting. In this approach, the writers outline big scenes and milestones of the season – and fill in the blanks with whatever they think will spark a meme – contrived humour, a romantic scene or synthesised gags meant to lift a watchable, but rarely the dazzling show it used to be.

Picking up after the events at the end of season three, after some unidentified assailants tried to kill Phulera’s pradhanpati (husband of the village chief) Brijbhushan Dubey, played by Raghubir Yadav – the new season begins with protagonist, Abhishek (Jitendra Kumar), worried about a police complaint filed against him by Bhushan (Durgesh Kumar) for a fight that took place outside the hospital at the end of the last season. The campaigning has begun to elect the village chief with Bhushan and his wife Kranti Devi (Sunita Rajwar) have emerged as opponents for Dubey and his wife Manju Devi (Neena Gupta). The stacked supporting cast of Ashok Pathak as Binod, Faisal Malik as Prahlad, Chandan Roy as Vikas are reliable as ever – but the convoluted writing and meandering direction ensure that viewers are left impatient through the many narrative detours of the show. 

A still from the season 4 of TVF's series 'Panchayat'.

The person who attacked Dubey at the end of season three is still unidentified, planting a doubt in the minds of the viewers. Dubey alleges that it were his political rivals – Bhushan and his powerful aide, the local MLA (Pankaj Jha) who hired the assailants. On the other hand, Bhushan and Kranti Devi defend themselves by flinging an accusation on Dubey himself for hiring the assailants, so he  can manufacture sympathy for himself before the elections. 

One thing that perturbed me more than it ever has in the preceding seasons is the outright villainising of Bhushan and Kranti Devi, who say the meanest things, act in the most perverse manner, so that the audience never roots for them. To its credit, it’s also in this season that the showrunners outrightly also underline Dubey’s stark hunger for political power. Someone who finds out who tried to kill him, and is still ready to shake hands with that person – it’s the first time Dubey is seen in deliberately unflattering light since his favouritism towards one side of the village is underlined in an earlier season. 

A still from the season 4 of TVF's series 'Panchayat'.

I loved the scene when Binod, in good conscience, accepts a dinner invitation to the Pradhan household. Realising he’s been accorded all the respect so he can prove himself to be a turncoat – he delivers the best line of the season: “I’m poor, not disloyal.” As Binod, Ashok Pathak (who recently starred in the kooky Sister Midnight) remains one of the brightest spots of the show, especially how he breaks down after some unexpected news in the climax. A few scenes later, when he’s dancing as a part of a celebratory procession, he comes up to offer sweets to his rivals Dubey and Manju Devi – not out of gloating, but out of genuine happiness. It’s arguably my favourite moment in the entire season, because it also closes the loop on an earlier scene, when Binod is given an earful by Bhushan for accepting a laddoo from a rival.

However, these are just a few moments subdued by prolonged gags trying to be funny – like Abhishek and his drunken rants against Bhushan. Dubey gets a meltdown scene towards the end of the show that’s confoundingly performed by Yadav, probably the strongest actor in this cast. There’s a strangely melodramatic scene between Vikas and Prahlad, which seems to have been birthed out of thin air, after Kranti Devi says something unsavoury during campaigning. The brief almost seems to be broad – whether in humour, showcasing conflicts or milking the tear-ducts. 

The arc of storytelling, where the end of fourth season is a mid-point, is all too apparent. It’s hard to buy into the devastation of the climax fully, only because the season consciously goes about planting narrative saplings – especially one featuring the local MP (Swanand Kirkire) – hinting that the conclusion here is merely a resting point. It’s always been the case, but it’s never been more apparent how executives have taken over the fate of Phulera from the hands of storytellers. Another season to be milked, viewership to be farmed, more money to be made.

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