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Panchayat Season 4 Review: Star Rating:
Cast: Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav, Faisal Malik, Chandan Roy, Sanvikaa, Durgesh Kumar, Sunita Rajwar, Ashok Pathak, Pankaj Jha
Creator: TVF
Director: Akshat Vijaywargiya, Deepak Kumar Mishra
Streaming On: Prime Video
Language: Hindi with Subtitles
Runtime: 8 episodes of 40 minutes each!
“Election mein milte hain aur sab ko naapenge,” when Phulera’s Kranti Devi, played by a brilliant Sunita Rajwar, tells this to Manju Devi, played by the gorgeous Neena Gupta, I placed a bowl of popcorn on my table and geared up to witness the hilarious cat-fight of the recent times. That’s how Panchayat Season 4 started.
Last season made it clear that this season would be all about the politics in Phulera village, with Pradhan Ji’s dominance getting challenged by Bhushan and the gang! Season 4 clearly pits the two gangs. Gang A, the Pradhan Ji Raghubir Yadav, joined by OG Pradhan ji Manju Devi (Neena Gupta), Sachiv Ji (Jitendra Kumar), Associate Pradhan Prahlad Cha (Faisal Khan), Sahayak Sachiv (Chandan Roy), and Rinki (Saanvika). Gang B is led by Bhushan, aka Banrakas (Durgesh Kumar), Kranti Devi (Sunita Rajwar), Binod (Ashok Pathak), and Vidhayak Ji (Pankaj Jha).
So, what happens when these two gangs clash with each other during the elections in Phulera village? Who gets to be the new Pradhan? Does Pradhan Ji maintain his Bhaukaal, or has he lost his charm? All these questions will be answered during the new Panchayat season. But the most important question is – Does Sachiv Ji finally qualify for his CAT exam?
Panchayat Season 4 Review: What’s It About:
In 2020, when TVF arrived with Panchayat, a brand new concept, letting people peek into the life of some distant village in MP, everything about the show was phenomenal! Right from digs like ‘Do Bachche Hain Meethi Kheer, Uske Aage Bawaseer’ to ‘Dekh Raha Hai Na Binod’ turning into the identity of the show, every aspect was celebratory! But with three seasons, it seems that this village has nothing more to offer!
The fourth season started with a promise of Chunaavi Garmi in Phulera but struggles throughout with its pace. Apart from some emotional highs, there is not much worth remembering, and the show seems to have turned into a regular mundane village life.
Panchayat Season 4 Review: What Works:
The web series wins in parts, especially scenes by Binod and Prahlad. In one of the scenes, Sansad Ji tells Prahlad, “Chhavi to pradhan ji ka bhi saaf suthra hai lekin wo ek shaheed ke pita nahi hain naa.” The numbness and the disbelief were something that could have been developed more, but it has been dropped then and there.
Panchayat season 4 slips the moment the core quartet – Sachiv ji, Pradhan ji, Prahlad Cha, and Vikas, who are the backbone of this series, fail to connect with their interactions. The subtle power dynamics and the genuine affection underlying their irritable fights, which remained a highlight for the past three seasons, went missing this year!
Panchayat Season 4 Review: Star Performance:
This season is very strongly held by two characters—Ashok Pathak’s Binod and Faisal Malik’s Prahlad Cha! Both of them hold the narrative with their character arcs, and writers need to be celebrated for extending a character and bringing it to the front, making it behave like one of the mains of this web series! Binod, what a guy, man! In a world of Sachiv Jis and Pradhan Jis, Binod is needed and should be sought!
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Panchayat Season 4 Review: What Doesn’t Work:
The two major problems with Panchayat season 4 are Sachiv Ji’s over-attachment with the village and Phulera seeming totally not interested in progressing and taking a step further on the way towards a developed village! The political rivalry forms an intense backdrop for this season, but all I wanted to know was who shot Pradhan Ji in the previous season! But the suspense is revealed in a not-so-important way, followed by an abrupt outburst of Raghubir Yadav saying, “Politics hai ye politics gudda gudiya ka khel nahi ki sab kuch achha hi accha hoga. Jhooth fareb makkari yahi hai iska asli khel. Khel sakte ho to khelo, nahi to chhodo.”
While the dialogue needed to have an impact, it absolutely did not leave an iota of impact! This is just one instance, and season four is full of such instances, so much so that there are moments when I actually test my memory and recall how the show started! How brilliantly, it was Manju Devi who decided to disperse her duties as Pradhan in a more responsible! It was such a beautiful change. But in the fourth season, the three women – Pradhan’s wife, daughter, and Vikas’s pregnant wife- turn into women who wave their hands to the males of the house whenever they leave their homes for some work! Trust me; there are so many shots that I could not unsee this unpleasant change in the male-female dynamics of Phulera!
The season also struggles with unnecessary extra characters. While one episode features a Nana ji, who mostly predicts and preaches the climax of the show. The other character is a young kid Billu who is left unexplore, though his presence his brilliant! You deserve all the applaud – Bill Clinton Kumar!
Panchayat Season 4 Review: Last Words:
Panchayat Season 4 felt like a step back towards the comfort zone of Season 2, but without the same fresh narrative or any zeal to impress. It plays it safe, so much so that now it feels like a forced plan to keep Abhishek in Phulera, testing the audience’s patience for stagnation. While the show was never preachy, it still was socially relevant. But this season did not bring any new real-world issues for Phulera! It seems like this village does not want to grow or walk the road to progress! Just like Sachiv Ji seems to be too disinterested to get an MBA Admission!
I mean, let’s be honest, how many more times can Abhishek try to study for his MBA, only to be interrupted by a village crisis? Panchayat Season 4, at times, feels like a slightly re-packaged version of the previous seasons. Trust me, I do want to root for Sachiv Ji and Phulera, but after a point, everyone needs to move on in life! You cannot be stuck in the same loop!
Going back to sleep, wake me up when Sachiv Ji gets an MBA admission or Phulera decides to develop and grow!
2.5 stars.
For more such reviews, stay tuned to Koimoi.
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