Amidst a parade of urban shows, two series set in rural India are winning the hearts of audiences. Panchayat and Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi streaming on Prime Video and SonyLIV respectively are taking the Indian OTT to new directions.
There is no doubt that both the shows capture the real essence of rural India. While Panchayat is a humongous success, the same can’t be said about Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi. The stories are highly relatable and so are the performance and direction.
Panchayat set in Phulera tells the story of a CAT aspiring Abhishek Tripathi who initially hates his job. Soon he finds himself loving the people around him. The show beautifully captures the lifestyle of rural India.
How women are subjected only to household chores, lack of resources and the collectivist nature of villagers. There are some irregularities in the show, particularly with the character of Rinki who was nowhere in season 1 but emerged as a powerful character in the second season.
But apart from locations, body language and lifestyle the show was highly unrealistic in one part. The vote bank politics of Phulera is driven by roads, lights and development as a whole. No doubt that a change is clearly visible but casteism plays a major role in villages. Especially during the elections, the show never utters any casteist angle.
If the makers wanted to represent an ideal situation then they score 10/10 on that. But idealism is never realistic. Thus although the show is exceptionally beautiful and relatable, it could be better in terms of being real.
Now let’s consider the case of Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi. The show has fewer episodes thus it can’t capture all the things which Panchayat does.
Still, it hits the bull’s eye by capturing exactly what Panchayat missed.
It covers the darkness of rural areas where casteism, muscle men, misogyny and classism still play a prominent role.
But apart from that, the show has many shortcomings. Even in the capturing of the titular character, there were inconsistencies which makes us less invested.
Thus even after shortcomings, Panchayat is a far better story and its success is screaming on the web.
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