MUMBAI: Panchayat, a 10-episode web series on Amazon featuring Jitendra Kumar, the natural actor who played Ayushmann Khurrana’s gay partner in the film Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan, is currently streaming  across homes in India.

Jitendra is happy about the captive viewership. 'People are confined to their homes right now. Panchayat  brings a smile to their faces. It’s a light take on village life. We shot it in a remote village named Mahodia in the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh. There was no place to stay for our crew in the village, so we would drive down from the nearest town every morning, shoot till sunset, and go back to the village.'

Jitendra who comes from a small town Khairtal in Rajasthan says it was easy for him to  identify  with the village and its problems. 'Villages started  just a few miles from where I grew up. So I know about  the problems of village  life. What we see in Panchayat is the real rural life. The village wears  a deserted look. There’s no respite from the sunshine  during the day time and  no electricity during the night. I couldn’t see a single young person during shooting. I was told the young have all gone to the city. There were only the old people and children in  the village.'

Jitendra who is no stranger to the digital platform, says it was a challenge working  in a remote village. 'I lost so much of my hair working in that climate. But I gained so much. Like my character Abhishek Tripathy I always  thought of a panchayat the way we see it in our movies: a group of villagers assembled under a tree. But that is not the way a village panchayat functions. There is a proper office and meetings are held formally with appointments for the complainants.'

Jitendra hopes the web series will create some awareness about village life. 'Normally, the serials I do have me playing rural characters migrating to the city. This is the first time I’m playing a character who moves the other way, from the city to the village.'

However, he was quick to point out that Panchayat  purports to entertain and not preach. 'We need a bit of sunshine during these troubled times.I binge-watched all the  episodes at home and  enjoyed myself thoroughly. The endeavour is to provide entertainment. The message on rural life is  not  hammered in.'

The spontaneous actor who regaled us earlier in the web series Kota Factory says the digital platform is no different  from a feature film. 'When we were shooting Panchayat we were not thinking of the platform where it will be released. We worked on it with full dedication. The differences comes in later  in the  volume of viewers  that we get on the OTT platform and the casual attitude of the audience.'

Jitendra loved re-uniting with Neena  Gupta. 'She played my mother in Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan. She now plays  the head of the village panchayat. She plays a woman who  knows her mind and  looks after her home and serves her official duties without fuss. Neenaji’s passion for her work is truly inspiring.'

The actor says he didn’t get a  chance to enjoy the success of Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan. 'I got so many messages and calls from people who identified with  my  character. But before I could reap any benefits, the Corona virus  broke out. Never mind! I am sure I will restart from where we left out as soon the situation normalizes.' 

SOURCE – NATIONAL HERALD