10 Best TV Shows to Watch If You Liked Panchayat (and Where to Stream Them)
Panchayat has been one of the biggest streaming successes for Amazon Prime Video in India. The political satire and coming-of-age drama stars Jitendra Kumar as a disgruntled government office-worker who is transferred to a remote village in the middle of nowhere. But as he immerses himself in the local politics and makes some unlikely friends, his life takes a new turn.
If you have enjoyed watching this cult favorite, check out our list of 10 similar shows like Panchayat along with all the options to stream them.
Created by The Viral Fever (the same team behind Panchayat), Aspirants covers the arduous journey of dreamers from all walks of life as they aspire to crack the UPSC exam. Regarded as one of the toughest exams in the world, these would-be bureaucrats sweat it out for an inspiring underdog journey.
Similar in tone as Panchayat, Maamla Legal Hai pokes fun at the Indian legal system. Each episode takes on one absurd court case inspired by stranger-than-fiction true stories.
Yet another TVF (The Viral Fever) original, Kota Factor is stylishly shot in black-and-white and shifts between emotional drama and classroom comedy. The Netflix series revolves around engineering students struggling to crack the dreaded IIT-JEE exam. Panchayat star Jitendra Kumar also stars as a friendly tutor called “Jitu Bhaiya”.
Underdog tales often tend to do well in the Hindi streaming space. And while Laakhon Mei Ek isn’t as funny as Panchayat, the anthology series is powerful enough to showcase how ordinary Indians fight their daily battles to break out from the rest. For Panchayat’s protagonist, cracking the CAT exam is as important as the engineering and medical students in Laakhon Mei Ek.
A TVF series made for Sony LIV, Gullak is a heartwarming family comedy that explores the everyday ups and downs of a dysfunctional middle-class household. If you need some family-friendly comedy like Panchayat, watch this critically acclaimed series right away.
An endearing presence in Panchayat is Raghubir Yadav who plays a local village leader. To watch the veteran actor’s dramatic range in other web series, you can stream the Hotstar investigative crime drama The Great Indian Murder. Yadav changes colours to play a morally grey character this time instead of his ever-smiling Panchayat character.
Before Panchayat, one of the breakout TVF series was Permanent Roommates. Exploring new-age romance from the POV of an urban couple sharing a high-rise flat, Permanent Roommates was equal parts funny and emotional. Also, Panchayat leading man Jitendra Kumar makes a hilarious guest appearance in one of the episodes!
Anything with Neena Gupta in the lead is worth a watch. Panchayat is no exception as she plays the village leader’s self-empowered wife. Redefining feminism in her 60s, she takes on a more urban role in Masaba Masaba. What makes the Netflix original worth a watch is the fact that she plays a fictionalised version of herself alongside her fashion designer daughter Masaba Gupta.
A simple comedy set in the 1990s, Yeh Meri Family follows a dreamy school student and his sweet but loud family. The TVF show is a wholesome watch for the entire family, much like Panchayat. And the audiences who grew up in the 1990s are bound to love it a bit more.
Panchayat showrunner Deepak Kumar Mishra found his start with a few episodes of Permanent Roommates and the criminally underrated satire Humorously Yours. The show stars stand-up comic Vipul Goyal playing himself, covering the behind-the-scenes drama of the comedy circuit.
