'Panchayat' Season 3 review: More politics than punch

I was late to the 'Panchayat' party. I saw it nearly a year after its release in May 2021 at the height of the Covid second wave. The series' wholesome take on rural life, its portrayal of male camaraderie and the languidity of Phulera, where apparently nothing (and everything) happens, brought me a sense of calm amidst my raging Covid anxiety. I am sure it did to many others as well. The problem is that we all collectively now think 'Panchayat' is a gift that will keep giving. We are wrong.

At best, the third season of the acclaimed series is a pale shadow of the first two and bordering on boring, if I am to be harsh. My thumbs were itching to use the 10-second forward now and then in the first three episodes where Abhishek aka Sachivji (Jitendra Kumar), Pradhan (Raghubir Yadav) and Manju Devi, the real Pradhan (Neena Gupta) are all twiddling their thumbs as well. Prahlad (Faisal Malik), whose son dies at the end of season 2, is drowning his sorrows in alcohol, but curiously, the atmosphere is one of boredom rather than gloom.

The council elections are around the corner but things haven't heated up yet and there are clear signs that the rural politics is about to get murkier. And it promptly does by the fourth episode, upturning a heartwarming series into a caricaturish fight of good versus evil with the local weirdo-politician bent upon taking petty revenge on the not-so-hapless villagers. This is where 'Panchayat' stopped 'panchayat-ing' for me.

However, there are many bright spots and the screenplay does manage to elicit both chuckles and tears and still gets the combination of humour and drama right many times. The highlight of season 3 is the subtlety with which the character growth of both Manju Devi and Abhishek is portrayed. The acting and the casting remain exceptional — watch out for the scene where the gang breaks into uncontrollable giggles after a tense moment! A hat tip to the evocative background score by Anurag Saikia.

(This Hindi language web series can be watched on Amazon Prime Video)