Neeraj Ghaywan criticises authenticity of TVF's Panchayat series over portrayal of village life: 'It is not right to show...'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Neeraj Ghaywan criticises authenticity of TVF's Panchayat series over portrayal of village life: 'It is not right to show...'")
Neeraj Ghaywan on Panchayat series Photograph: (X)
Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan has called out the TVF's renowned series Panchayat over the portrayal of village life overlooking the realities of rural India. Read to know more.
Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan, best known for showcasing socio-political stories like Homebound and Masaan, among others, has called out the TVF's acclaimed web series Panchayat. While praising the storytelling of the show, he criticised the village life overlooking the social realities of rural India. Let's delve in to know in detail.
Neeraj Ghaywan on Panchayat's portrayal of village life in India
Speaking in an interview with Yuvaa, Neeraj Ghaywan said that Panchayat, despite being celebrated as an authentic depiction of village life, presents what he described as a caste-blind version of rural India. He said, "Take TVF", and they have been doing very well. And they have shows that are genuinely good. And that's exactly why I have the problem. It's made by IITians, who are supposed to be the most educated lot in this country. And every single show of theirs, since inception, has always had upper-caste characters. Not a single lower-caste person, not a single Muslim."
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He further added, "Now, you as this educated person cannot take that responsibility. And like, you know, if some old-timer makes a film, I get it. But like, come on, try to understand this. You're educated, right? You cleared IIT, didn't you? You studied engineering for four years. So you should be able to understand that maybe it is not right to show it that way."
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“That you call this celebrated show of yours, Panchayat, which everybody thinks is the most authentic representation of villages. No, it isn't. You cannot create an entire village where only upper-caste names exist,” Neeraj said.
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All about Panchayat
Panchayat is one of the renowned comedy-drama web series created by The Viral Fever (TVF). Written by Chandan Kumar and directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra & Akshat Vijaywargiya. The show stars Jitendra Kumar, Raghubir Yadav, Neena Gupta, Chandan Roy, Faisal Mallik, Ashok Pathak, Sunita Rajwar and Pankaj Jha, among others.
The show first premiered on the streaming platform Amazon Prime Video in 2020 and received critical acclaim for its writing, performances and portrayal of rural life. So far, the show has four seasons, and the latest one was released in 2025. In July 2025, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which is scheduled to premiere this year.
