Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam Series Review: A perfectly cast, no-frills show that has endearing and dramatic moments

3/5

Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam series story

Chennai native Siddharth (Abhishek Kumar) has been posted as panchayat secretary at Tirunelveli’s Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam, an underdeveloped village that is still grappling with modernism. Even if Meenatchi Devi (Devadarshini) is the panchayat chairperson of the village, her husband Meenatchi Sundaram (Chetan) takes care of the official responsibilities. Siddharth also often interacts with office assistant Lakshmipathy (Paul Raj), and vice-chairperson Prabhu (Anandsami) who is also Meenatchi Devi’s brother. Posted in a village that offers no solace for Siddharth, the show revolves around how the character navigates through his work as he prepares to crack CAT exams to pursue MBA, the only way to get out of the place.

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Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam series review

Based on characters by Chandan Kumar, the writer of Panchayat series, there is Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam for you, which pretty much sticks to its source material to stir the drama in its episodic nature. Having not watched the original, I see Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam as a world that begins to build on its premise one moment a time, gradually making it to a crescendo to being a no-frills dramatic drama, thanks to its aptly cast characters. So, this review too, will be from the perspective of a fresher to the premise.

At one moment, a padlock given as dowry which is used to lock the panchayat office, an autorickshaw driver whose wife goes into labor, and a petty criminal locked up, pose as hindrances for Siddharth unable to get into the office. Why because the key is lost, and Meenatchi Devi’s strictly orders not to break the lock which came as her seedhanam (customary gift) for her marriage. But when finally, she does allow to break open, the doors come off, and there begins Siddharth’s first battle with the village that nowhere suits his aspiring lifestyle.

Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam consist of eight episodes, with each having an average of half hour runtime. Through this course, the series brings in small conflicts, like where to place the last solar lamp allocated for the village, and Siddharth’s new comfortable rotating chair which makes Meenatchi Sundaram go green with envy. When an episode involving the literal meaning of a cuss word that Siddharth uses on a groom who had stalled at the panchayat office as his bachelor pad, riles up the latter, the chair soon becomes an object of utmost interest and luxury. The series organically builds up to this, and nowhere in the process the villagers an exotic species who look up to simple objects of desire.

One of the greatest strength the series has got is its casting. Abhishek Kumar portrays a young and almost a man with gentle demeanor who can be easily run over by the loud personalities that surround him. At one point, Lakshmipathy the office assistant who is unofficially also the designated man to run errands for a local villager’s wedding, cautions Siddharth that he too does not end up. But we know that’s not how it’s going to be right, as we see the show organically making the characters what we think they will do, but not in a way we think. Abhishek as a young officer who is filled with vulnerability and innocence, while Chetan as the senior boss man, who exhibits his extroverted nature, carry the show on their shoulders. There is nowhere Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam makes these characters look like caricatures to evoke laughter or play the fool, to benefit the show’s intelligence.

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The show does paint some of its nature in much broad and straightforward sense. For example, to show the stark contrast of the villagers’ ignorance to menstrual hygiene and the taboo that the woman’s cyclic nature is, we are shown how a full-blown puberty ceremony is held, with flexes printed, so much so that it even hides the social advertising messages about menstruation. Of course, the village men find it too embarrassing to see flashy messages on their walls and nonchalantly cover it with the hoarding they printed for the function. Too straightforward in what it tries to tell, nevertheless it can be counted a harmless writing choice that still benefits for a larger cause.

Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam series verdict

Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam is a greatly cast, and decently executed series, which relies so much on its simplicity and no-frills nature. There is a definite sense and efforts that went through the making, while at the same time making it a lightful yet provoking watch. The season, if renewed, also holds so much potential to go further rooted and dramedies of the recent times.