As much as the inhabitants of Phulera made us feel like one of their own while we let the show grow on us, it also mirrored the grim realities of the world without sounding preachy.
The second installment of Panchayat 2 pulled more characters into the centre stage, one of whom was MLA Chandrakishore Singh AKA Vidhayak ji.
The pompous MLA, with sheer arrogance, assigned tasks to Pradhanji and his gang as if they owed him something. Sure, Pradhanji had to wring money out of him to mend roads but that doesn’t give Vidhanji the license to treat those folks as slaves.
To put things in perspective, the feud was initiated when Vidhanji, without rhyme or reason, humiliated Sachiv ji. In the second encounter, when Pradhan and Vikas took a stand against the MLA, he insulted them too but this time, met with the fury of Pradhanji and his gang.
In the tragic turn of events, when the word of Prahlad’s son Rahul’s martyrdom was dispersed across, the same MLA, who spewed filth on the village and its inhabitants, arrived with his men to pounce on the opportunity for attention.
Nonetheless, what sent chills to our spine was Manju Devi and her posse of women taking up the mantle of barring Vidhayak ji from attending Rahul’s funeral, which crushed his ego.
Right in the face of political threat, these women with utter grace and poise, made the MLA taste his own sh*t while he was desperate to capitalise on Rahul’s death for votes.
Manju Devi, without being melodramatic in her monologue, underscored how nasty a human being he was and showed ‘the man in power’ his proper place.
This brief yet boldest scene of the show, as I saw it, was proof that standing up for what is right does not necessitate a degree but the right dose of wisdom and bravery.
Take a bow, women of Phulera!
All images are screenshots from Amazon Prime Video.