Plot with so many predictable twists
The TVF is now at such a point in its position after its masterpiece product, ‘Panchayat’, that viewers can find it irresistible to compare it with their other works.
When I started watching ‘Gram Chikitsalaya’, I immediately jumped to compare it with their other superhit web series, Panchayat.
There are so many things in this web series for the uncalled comparison with that of Panchayat.
In rural India, with an endless regressive environment, petty politics, no basic amenities, dilapidated health centers, ill-equipped educational institutions, and amid uncountable problems, there are their local representatives with zero accountability.
The web series ‘Gram Chikitsalaya’ subtly portrays the true nature of rural India. It explores the paranoid behaviors of villagers, their stigma, inhibitions, and unrealistic mental barriers. The series highlights their internal struggle to oppose anything unfamiliar while simultaneously accepting the negative aspects of life as their destiny.
Too timid to be a protagonist
The character of Dr. Prabhat Sinha, played by Amol Parashar, is too mellow to swallow easily for a medical person’s personality.
The character of Dr. Prabhat Sinha, played by Amol Parashar, comes across as overly gentle for someone in the medical profession. Despite being a qualified medical professional with a stable financial background, he appears to struggle with providing himself moral support. This vulnerability makes him susceptible to the scheming individuals who seek to exploit the innocent villagers.
This is so out of the box to think about the mild and soft nature of a well-educated doctor who is here to challenge himself in challenging scenarios of an Indian village, and doesn’t have the guts to confront the wrongdoers boldly when they are caught red-handed.
He is behaving as if he is skeptical of the situation, has underestimated the conditions, and has never had a close encounter with rural people.
Being positive is one thing, and behaving solidly as per the situation is another thing; you can’t be gentle all the time, especially when you are surrounded by stupidly arrogant people.
You cannot segregate corruption from Indians’ veins.
The disheartening condition of villages in India, even after almost 78 years of independence, clearly shows how corruption exists and hinders progress.
Although we have had the local governing body ‘Panchayat’ for this purpose since 1996, the condition of villages is still either same or somewhere it is even worse.
The plight of villagers is still endless, with all their issues going in vain, and their legal rights are just for voting to elect their representatives, and thereafter, they are left with a frustrating quandary with no one to address their problems.
The local representatives become nearly unreachable the moment they take their oath to serve the people, and this is the harshest reality of independent India.
Indian politics is murkier and dirtier than what we know through print media or social media.
The web series ‘Gram Chikitsalaya’ aptly demonstrates this kind of dirty politics, and all the hue and cry of villagers is akin to the voice of a trumpet in the room of drums.
Indian villages: Endless drama, Endless trauma
With many unprecedented incidents in India over the last fortnight, I was more concerned about the well-being of our motherland rather than the real issues that are giving all of us hopeless nights and restless days.
With a worst turn of events, and amid hounding fake news peddlers unnecessarily amplifying the tension and fear across borders, and among our citizens, we are forced to think about war rather than welfare, and what is more terrifying is the data of COVID-19 casualties in India released by the government which clearly shows that we lost about 2.5 million people within two years of pandemic.
In the meanwhile, India saw a heart-wrenching finding of an illegal kidney selling racket active in many tier-2 cities, and some big names of hospital chains were said to be directly doing the deals with the help of quacks from remote villages in many parts of India.
Yes, you heard right. Remote villages and even suburbs have several quacks with a great business, greater than a well-qualified medical practitioner in any township.
I have personal information about the quacks in many areas of the country.
*When we were posted in a suburb in Uttar Pradesh, we didn’t know where to go when my husband was ill, and then one of his office employees gave this so-called doctor’s address. My husband visited the clinic, and the doctor was sympathetic and polite. After his recovery, my husband praised him so highly that I felt compelled to visit the clinic.
I was surprised when I saw the doctor’s signboard.
The so-called doctor lacked a valid MBBS degree; he mentioned an MA degree and a BHMS degree from a non-existent college, and some of the degrees listed on his signboard were from German institutions.
After seeing this, I clearly explained to my husband that he should consult a certified doctor only, and he agreed, as we did not want to take any risk regarding health.
I did not want to opt for a quack doctor for medical service, even though he was more popular in the area.
There are so many things showing the need for immediate intervention from the Indian government without any political discrimination for the betterment of our rural areas, where almost 65% of the total population resides.
But unfortunately, there seems to be little possibility of this happening in the future, because of the same dirty politics that have been giving nightmares to all the Indians for ages.
Gram Chikitsalaya
We need this or we need that, we should have that facility, or maybe we should have the amenities of a city.
The rural politics revolve around this notion, but unfortunately for the political ambitions of a few people who are already in power, rural India has never witnessed fulfilling days.
Political factionalism in rural India is also very dangerous.
There are more problems than all the political promises have been made to date.
Vinay Pathak is as per expectations, some other actors are regular on the TVF platform, Akanksha Ranjan Kapoor as Dr. Gargi is positively supporting the negative aspect of rural lifestyle.
The actors in the show are great, but the seriousness of the show gets unnecessarily diluted because of the political scenes.
Awaiting season 2
After watching season 1 of Gram Chikitsalay, I would like another season where the PHC or Public Health Centre or Gram Chikitsalay starts functioning as it should be, and all the mental, physical, psychological, and financial encroachments should be vanished in thin air of real innocent rural people.
I hope it happens, because I know it’s not possible in reality, so why not let it happen in a fictional TV show?
If the village perishes, India will perish too. The soul of India lives in its villages.
Mahatma Gandhi