Panchayat is widely regarded as one of the best Indian web series of recent times. After three much-loved seasons, viewers are now waiting with bated breath for the arrival of Panchayat Season 4, which is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on June 24, 2025. Interestingly, many fans describe Panchayat as a modern version of a beloved Indian television series from the past. We are talking about Shankar Nag’s Malgudi Days, the iconic 1980s series based on R.K. Narayan’s short stories. And here’s why Panchayat is delightfully reminiscent of Malgudi Days.
Why Panchayat Reminds Us Of Malgudi Days?
Both Panchayat and Malgudi Days mostly follow an episodic narrative structure, where each episode tells a self-contained story. For instance, Panchayat explores various village issues such as a haunted tree, a local wedding, an anti-alcoholism campaign, CCTV installation, toilet construction, road development efforts, etc. Similarly, Malgudi Days featured stories including a boy who hates school, an astrologer’s daily life, a missing animal, and petty fights between neighbours. This slice-of-life storytelling against an authentic rural backdrop and relatable characters makes Panchayat feel delightfully reminiscent of Malgudi Days.
Moreover, according to a Pinkvilla report, the show’s director Deepak Kumar Mishra revealed that Malgudi Days was a major inspiration for Panchayat. So, it does not come as a surprise that Panchayat feels beautifully similar to Malgudi Days in so many ways.
The director said, “A panchayat in India is the personification of what village life is. I wanted to revive the viewers’ fondness for classic shows and relate that to reality. When we were kids, we grew up watching shows like Malgudi Days and Panchatantra. This had the essence of small village culture. We aimed to show the new-age generation what we grew up watching back in the day. ‘Panchayat’s name connects viewers to their motherlands.”
Panchayat Story & Cast
The underlying story of Panchayat revolves around an engineering graduate, Abhishek Tripathi (played by Jitendra Kumar), who reluctantly accepts the post of Secretary of a panchayat office in a remote village of Uttar Pradesh. How he deals with the village’s everyday problems while studying for an MBA entrance exam carries the story forward. Later, he forms a bond with the village Pradhan-Pati (played by Raghubir Yadav), his loyal assistant Vikas (played by Chandan Roy), the Up-Pradhan Prahlad (played by Faisal Malik), the actual Pradhan Manju Devi (Neena Gupta), and Manju Devi’s daughter and his romantic interest Rinki (Sanvikaa).
What’s Panchayat Season 4 All About?
Panchayat Season 3 ended with a dramatic showdown of Abhishek, Prahlad, and Vikas, with Bhushan (Durgesh Kumar) and MLA Chandrakishore (Pankaj Jha), following an attack on the Pradhan-Pati. The season concluded with Abhishek and MLA’s associates getting detained by the cops. Panchayat Season 4 is expected to focus on how Pradhan and Bhushan compete with each other for the upcoming village panchayat elections and their fierce political rivalry.
