‘Gram Chikitsalay’ web-series review: Vinay Pathak and Amol Parashar pass smoothly through familiar terrains

Cast: Amol Parashar, Vinay Pathak, Anandeshwar Dwivedi, Akash Makhija, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Garima Vikrant Singh

Director: Rahul Pandey

Language: Hindi

Is there anyone else apart from TVF that’s as obsessed with India’s heartland? Maybe Maddock. But they are confined by the chains of time. TVF remain both free and free-spirited in their style of narration since the potential of exploration is limitless due to the landscape of streaming. So after the contagious Panchayat which proceeds towards season four, they bring another story about a bumbling village in desperate need for reinvention. The show is titled Gram Chikitsalay. It’s headlined by Vinay Pathak and the omnipresent Amol Parashar.

There’s something about this chameleon. He was recently a modern-day lover boy, then transformed into a snooty brat that hails from a royal family. He now gets into the shoes of a doctor that wishes for a change in a world he has never experienced before. Just like Panchayat, this is a show about an outsider fumbling his way through idiosyncratic characters and chaos. And then there’s the always reliable Vijay Pathak. He almost disappeared in between. But it is good to see him back. Few actors are able to understand the kind of humor he does. The dead-pan finesse is still intact.

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There’s a little bit of Swades too. Here is a man who wants to change the surroundings and people around him. Expectedly, as the story will progress, he and the people who are watching him will realize he’s the one who has to change first. Directed by Rahul Pandey, Gram Chikitsalay resides on its sharp sense of observation. It spoofs the melodrama of the village life Hindi cinema of the 80s was replete with.

At first, and the way it should be, the villagers’ naïveté are at odds with Dr. Prabhat’s tenacity. (the character Amol plays). Few comical absurdities and monologues later, the difference begins to show. Even when the fun of watching it is marred by a terrible sense of familiarity, the earnestness keeps the series afloat. But it’s time for the makers to surprise us and create a world they have never dabbled with before. It’s good to be relatable, but spurts of magical realism won’t hurt.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Gram Chikitsalay is now streaming on Prime Video