Panchayat - Having graduated with ordinary scores, Abhishek Tripathi (Jitendra Kumar) is unable to bag a plum job and has to temporarily settle as the secretary of the panchayat for Phulera (development block Fakauli) in the Balia district of Uttar Pradesh, a dusty, underdeveloped and nondescript village. His closest friend encourages him to grab the opportunity of discovering the "real" rural India as it will boost his chances of qualifying for MBA after he clears his CAT exams that he needs to prepare for. Abhishek is crestfallen upon arrival at Phulera, discovering the simplicity of people, lack of facilities and the complete absence of any social life. His daily humdrum existence comprises of waking up at 9:20 a.m., getting to work on matters of no interest to him, cooking his food and studying for CAT. So routine bound is his life that a mere deviation from it results in a theft from the office. Panchayat describes how Abhishek grapples with the idiosyncrasies of his professional life and tries to make the most of his life there.

Panchayat is a fun watch although there's no story in it. It's basically a collection of events that Abhishek encounters and his experiences with the people he has to deal with. As such, the pace is deeply slackened and at times, quite uneventful and even boring. Comical it is, without mocking or ridiculing the folks, and this is what gives solid credibility to Panchayat for sensitively and sensibly projecting the village life and its people. Jitendra Kumar is exceptional in his essay of the lead role - his character of an introvert, shy and straightforward young man who won't even speak up to seek the basic benefits for himself is praiseworthy. Raghuvir Yadav handles his role as if it's his second skin. Neena Gupta has a limited role but never fails to impress, whilst Chandan Roy and Faisal Malik are pure fun to watch. Panchayat makes for a great idle time watch if you're not expecting to see anything dramatic.