Star Cast: Amol Parashar, Vinay Pathak, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor
Web Series Review: Gram Chikitsalay engages with its grounded plot but suffers from Panchayat déjà vu
Director: Rahul Pandey
Synopsis:
GRAM CHIKTIKSALAY is the story of a man in a remote village. Dr Prabhat Sinha (Amol Parashar) is the son of a rich doctor, and they run a prestigious hospital in Delhi. However, Dr Prabhat wants to do more for society and hence gets appointed as an MO (Medical Officer) in a village named Bhatkandi, Jharkhand. He arrives in the village only to find the primary health centre aka Gram Chikitsalay is shut. The road leading to the centre has been taken over illegally by an adamant villager, Ram Avatar (Akhileshwar Prasad Sinha). The compounder Phutani (Anandeshwar Dwivedi) and ward boy Gobind (Akash Makhija) report for duty but they are least interested. Thankfully, the nurse, Indu (Garima Vikrant Singh), is dedicated to her job. The health centre is in a dire condition and Dr Prabhat gets it running by getting it cleaned and ordering new equipment. He even promotes in the village that the Gram Chikitsalay is fully functioning. Yet, not a single patient arrives for treatment. Dr Prabhat soon realizes that all the villagers prefer going to a quack, Chetak Kumar (Vinay Pathak), when they fall sick. On the other hand, he lands in a soup when he’s accused of stealing vaccines. What happens next forms the rest of the series.
Gram Chikitsalay Story Review:
Deepak Kumar Mishra and Arunabh Kumar’s story is intriguing and exposes the situation of the health care system at the grassroots level. Vaibhav-Shreya’s screenplay is engaging, but at several places, one gets a déjà vu of PANCHAYAT. Vaibhav-Shreya’s dialogues are entertaining.
Rahul Pandey’s direction is simple. Most of the web series are eight-ten episodes long and at times, it becomes tedious for consumers to go through them. Sometimes, they crave a mini-series. GRAM CHIKTIKSALAY succeeds on that front. It has just five episodes with a collective run time of around three hours. Moreover, the director introduces the characters and their quirks along with the setting in a neat manner. It is amusing and also a bit shocking to see how doctors function in rural areas and the enormous challenges they have to face. A few scenes stand out like Dr Prabhat complaining to the cop about Ram Avatar, the quack googling symptoms to find out the illness of a patient, Dr Pramod being forced by rival politicians to give a fake medical certificate, etc. The scene where Chetak Kumar lectures Dr Pramod is highly memorable.
On the flipside, the show suffers big time because of the PANCHAYAT comparisons. The plot point is eerily similar – an urban youth arrives in a village and gets the first-hand exposure of how things work in a village. He is accompanied by two simpletons, both locals. Meanwhile, a confident and charming girl shows interest in the youth. Of course, there are minor differences – the youth has come to the village on his own as opposed to the protagonist in PANCHAYAT, who reluctantly accepts the offer. But overall, PANCHAYAT remains on one’s mind throughout. Secondly, a few characters disappear and even enter the narrative quite suddenly. Some episodes begin abruptly; one might even double-check to make sure that one has not skipped an episode or two. Lastly, the final episode is arresting but also gets too heavy.
Gram Chikitsalay Performances:
Amol Parashar plays the lead part with panache and brings out the vulnerability beautifully. Vinay Pathak rocks the show, especially during the monologue. Akansha Ranjan Kapoor (Dr Gargi) is lovely and one wishes she had more to do in the show. Anandeshwar Dwivedi and Akash Makhija are too good. Garima Vikrant Singh leaves a tremendous mark and has a crucial role to essay. The same goes for Santoo Kumar (Sudhir). Akhileshwar Prasad Sinha, Kartikey Raj (Dhelu), Rakesh Sharma (Bhikhari Lal) and Shakti Kumar (Kishori) raise a lot of laughs. Vikram Pratap Singh (Arvind; chemist), Ashiq Hussain (CMO) and Mohit Takalkar (Bhiksha Baba) also do well.
Gram Chikitsalay music and other technical aspects:
The songs are okay but Nilotpal Bora’s background score is in sync with the show’s theme. Girish Kant’s cinematography is breathtaking; the village has been beautifully captured by the lensman. Neeraj Kumar’s production design and Sumedha Shakti’s costumes are straight out of life. Chandrashekhar Prajapati’s editing is slick.
Gram Chikitsalay Review Conclusion:
On the whole, GRAM CHIKTIKSALAY manages to engage with its grounded plot, sincere performances, and a few standout moments that reflect the reality of grassroots India. However, its noticeable resemblance to PANCHAYAT somewhat dampens the overall impact.
Rating: 2.5 stars
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