‘Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam’ sequence overview: Acquainted delights on this Tamil remake of ‘Panchayat’

A nonetheless from ‘Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam’ 
| Picture Credit score: YouTube/PrimeVideo

Engineering college students and their travails have lengthy been fodder for storytellers. A trope perfected by 3 Idiots in Hindi, its iterations have appeared in varied varieties and languages starting with Joyful Days (2007) in Telugu and VIP (2014) in Tamil to the likes of Koothara (2014) and Oru Vadakkan Selfie (2015) in Malayalam, and persevering with to be in vogue by way of current blockbusters equivalent to Hridayam (2022) and Premalu (2024).

Into this deluge of engineering tales dropped TVF’s Panchayat, surprisingly managing to face out. It did so by narrating the story of an engineering graduate working as a Panchayat secretary in rural Uttar Pradesh. That the present appeared on Amazon Prime, a streaming platform with a largely city subscription base, comparatively unfamiliar with Indian heartlands and its goings-on, contributed in no small measure to the present’s recognition.

After debuting in 2020 and having spawned three seasons since, the present now appears to recreate its success in Tamil with Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam. Starring stand-up comedian Abishek Kumar, the present’s title refers to a village in Tirunelveli the place the protagonist, Siddharth, assumes cost as panchayat secretary. Like several graduate aspiring for a white-collar job, Siddharth appears down upon his posting on the authorities workplace, treating it as a transit level in his profession that can be utilized to arrange for CAT exams to get right into a administration institute. 

Now, anybody with the vaguest thought of how tales work may guess the course of the plot going ahead; that it is just a matter of time earlier than Siddharth, a fish out of water at first, warms as much as the village and its folks, earlier than taking to their methods. What then stays to be found is how these adjustments come about.

Mainstream tales have been infamous for his or her reductive angle in direction of rural folks by portray them as naive souls. Panchayat strayed from this overwhelmed path because it introduced a bouquet of eclectic characters who had been intelligent, sly, type, cussed and extra, all of the whereas retaining the present’s overarching tone of heartwarming and humorous. The gravity of the issues however, resolutions virtually all the time got here from easy concepts. Because it occurred, this simplistic method was the proper antidote sought by an viewers going by way of pandemic blues.

Therefore, it solely made sense for the makers to make use of this successful components whereas adapting Panchayat to a distinct milieu. However Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam doesn’t cease at that and is a frame-by-frame remake, to the extent that even the conflicts and resolutions from the unique are carried ahead. This philosophy of borrowing is mirrored within the casting alternative too. Whereas it was Neena Gupta taking part in the sarpanch’s spouse, who headlined the solid of Panchayat, it’s Devadarshini, the actor taking part in the identical half in Tamil, who’s the present’s most recognisable face.

As spectacular as which may be, one of many present’s largest shortcomings additionally has to do with casting. Jitendra Kumar, who performed the protagonist in Panchayat, was, till then, a comparatively unknown face to the nation at massive. His obscurity lent an air of rawness and spontaneity to his efficiency, proving to be a supply of amusement for the viewers. With Abishek Kumar, the novelty issue disappears, for anybody who has ever been on Instagram could be aware of his comedy sketches and expressions. In consequence, a contemporary method and a brand new actor, that made the unique present well-liked, are supplanted by a confirmed components and predictable face within the remake. This isn’t to fault Abishek Kumar’s performing chops, for he turns in a dedicated efficiency, however has extra to do with carrying the curse of social media.

Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam’s daring strides come within the type of attempting to handle caste and dowry. However these are perfunctory at finest on this season. Nevertheless, like the unique present, episodes have been put aside to take care of superstitions, ladies’s management and consciousness of menstrual hygiene. The present additionally tries and contrasts the lifetime of Siddharth, all the time surrounded by males within the village, with that of his good friend in Chennai, who’s foregrounded in opposition to a bunch of women and men, to deliver out the cultural variations of their lives.

In the end, Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam is a prisoner of its personal making. By staying too true to the unique, it affords little or no for these aware of Panchayat. For the remaining, although, it might be a distinct story. 

Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam is streaming on Prime Video