‘Not a single lower-caste person’: Neeraj Ghaywan calls out TVF’s Panchayat

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He further added, “Now, you, as this educated person, cannot take that responsibility. And, like, you know, if some old-timer makes a film, I get it. But, like, come on, try to understand this, you’re educated, right? You cleared IIT, didn’t you? You studied engineering for four years. So you should be able to understand that maybe it is not right to show it that way.”

He then gave the example of their most popular show Panchayat, set in rural India, saying, “That you call this celebrated TV show of yours, Panchayat, which everybody thinks is the most authentic representation of villages. No, it isn’t. You cannot create an entire village where only upper-caste names exist.”

Panchayat has been one of the most successful shows of the Indian streaming space. The TVF show, starring Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghbir Yadav, among others, has had four seasons so far.

Neeraj Ghaywan’s most recent directorial, Homebound, starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor, recently won Best Picture as well as Best Film Writing at the Chetak SCREEN Awards.