Panchayat 3: What makes Faisal Malik’s grief-stricken Prahlad Panda the heart of this season | web series

With the martyrdom of Prahlad Panday’s soldier son Rahul, the pre-season of Premier Video India’s show Panchayat ended. Faisal Malik, who has been a friendly sidekick throughout the show, suddenly took on greater importance as the martyr’s father. While this designation is often thrown around out of pride, season 3 shows that for Prahlad, it’s primarily a deep sadness.

(Also Read – Panchayat 3 Review: Jitendra Kumar Show With High Emotions, Surprises With Supporting Cast)

Different stages of grief

The first mention of Prahlad in season 3 comes from his benefactors Vikas (Chandan Roy), Manju Devi (Neena Gupta) and Pradhan (Raghubir Yadav) when they discuss how Prahlad did not stay at home or eat properly. They also talk about how his drinking habit has increased. We are already painting a very sad, helpless portrait of a man. When we see him sleeping peacefully under a tree, we can sense that he may be mourning or drinking heavily, but he is calm. Not because her son was martyred, but because after this loss she has nothing more to give up.

Prahlad does not bear his grief like an ax in a farm. She sits with him, sleeps and drinks as a silent companion – as a reminder that her life will never be the same. That’s the feeling we got when we witnessed the season 2 finale. The show we love for its innocence and simplicity will no longer be submerged. There are a few twists and turns from this show in Season 3, but as in life, grief comes in many different forms over the course of the eight episodes. Like the show, Prahlad also changes his mood depending on the situation. But the restless energy remains constant.

It doesn’t take Prahlad a few episodes to come out of his drunken, lifeless state. When given a task, he accepts it and dares to complete it without throwing a punch. He is even willing to resort to violence if that is what is needed to restore the status quo. Even the orders of the District Magistrate fall on deaf ears. “Apne samay se pehle koi nahi jaega (No one leaves before their time),” he says emphatically, referring to the untimely transfer of Sachi (Jetendra Kumar), while prematurely highlighting his son’s early death.

However, grief for Prahlad does not merely alternate between terrifying violence and hopeless hibernation. There is also a wide range among them. For example, he does not want to collect ₹50 GEL check, which he received from the state after the martyrdom of his son. Much to his sorrow, he cannot find a suitable way to send the money. So he continues to do this to anyone and everyone in need – rebuilding the road so that Pradhan has a fair shot at the next election, helping Vikas financially so he can plan his family despite his low income, and even treating the old man. A woman in her village whose son cannot afford it. Prahlad realizes that although the grief is his, the money that came out of it is for sale.

best moment

My most treasured moment from Prahlad’s arc – or even the entire season – is his intimacy with the old woman whose life he saves. Ama is hell bent on buying a new pooka house for her son and his family. But his uneducated and unskilled self cannot think of a way to achieve this except through manipulation. She feigns illness and pretends to be kicked out of her son’s house so that the complaint can nominate her for a new house under the central government’s housing policy. She insists on living in mud, against her son’s wishes, if it will increase her chances of getting him a new home.

Prahlad takes Ama to his ramshackle house and offers her shelter there. He says that all his materialistic wealth – house and ₹50 GEL check – meaningless because he has no one to share it with. Since he still has family luxuries, he should not be separated from them because of materialistic possessions. Both shed tears and hug each other – the poor man’s mother who wants a better life for her son and the martyred soldier’s father who can’t even dream of sharing a modest life with his son. It’s the coming together of two incredible forces who can see each other just how rich they are, materially or otherwise. She then tasks him with cleaning the house and leaves him with his two cents to deal with grief and life in general.

When she says her house will get dirty again, she shrugs and suggests that when it does, she’ll have to clean it again. It’s great to tell someone who is bored – that they should start the day on a new note, go through worldly wisdom, just repeat the exercise every day. It won’t make your grief go away, but it will help you a lot to believe that you’re doing something about it every day. What Faisal Malik’s Prahlad Panday embodies in Panchayat — a show that struggles to rediscover its voice and readjust its stakes — is someone who just picks up a broom and sweeps. He hopes that next season the writers will pick up their pens and follow suit.