Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Dr. Prabhat Sinha is a young doctor from an affluent family, who voluntarily takes up a posting at a ‘Gram Chikitsalay’, a primary health centre in a tiny village, only to discover it’s in complete disarray: dysfunctional, with not even a road leading to it, stranded in a sea of illegal crops sown by a farmer. The idealistic health professional faces the uphill task of get it up and running to serve patients in the area. This sets him up for a tough life lesson: you can bring a doctor to the village, but that doesn’t mean the village will come to the doctor.
Created by Deepak Kumar Mishra, Arunabh Kumar, Shreya Srivastava, and Vaibhav Suman, the 5-episode Prime Original series ‘Gram Chikitsalay’ stars Amol Parashar as primary protagonist Dr. Prabhat Sinha, struggling to get any patients at the health centre he is posted in. Anandeshwar Dwivedi plays Phutani, the compounder, who’s confident the new big-city doctor will leave the village by the end of his first day – giving him the freedom to slack off and profit from the medical supplies sent to the center. However, Gobind (Akash Makhija), the ward boy, is more optimistic about working with the newcomer. So, what’s it going to be? Will the city boy flee after facing the hardships of village life, or stay on to fulfill his duties without compromising on his ideals?
The first episode is the strongest edition of the show, establishing the basic personalities of the primary characters of ‘Gram Chikitsalay’. Amol Parashar is the idealistic yet naïve Dr. Prabhat Sinha, sticking out like a sore thumb in the village, struggling to blend in, hoping all his issues would be solved by shooting written complaints to the government. The BP machine has been chewed up by rats? The compounder is selling free government medicines in black? Farmers are illegally growing crops on land meant for the health centre? No matter what problem he encounters, Prabhat’s first thought is to file a complaint. It’s another doctor who offers him some useful advice: learn to accept things as they are and fix your own problems.
Thus, the primary theme of the show is the classic ‘insiders versus outsider’ struggle. Even though Prabhat is the only qualified doctor around, the village-folk would rather consult the local quack, Chetak Kumar (entertainingly portrayed by Vinay Pathak), who literally googles symptoms, than give the government doctor a chance. The series, however, misses an opportunity to highlight that it’s not just a matter of trust, it also stems from a widespread (and long-held) misconception among the poor that government health centres are inherently unreliable.
Anandeshwar Dwivedi’s Phutani is one of the most hilarious characters in ‘Gram Chikitsalay‘, an apt representation of a corrupt, lazy, opportunistic government employee. However, Anandeshwar wasn’t completely convincing as a rural resident, something about his personality betrayed the character’s earthiness. Akash Makhija as Gobind, the young, enthusiastic ward boy, is an easy-to-like character in the series, a simple, friendly worker, who genuinely roots for Dr. Prabhat’s success. Garima Vikrant Singh portrays Indu Devi, a hard-working nurse who works on the ground, mostly on vaccination duty, while Santoo Kumar plays her son Sudhir, a minor character at first but one who becomes much more important in the climactic episode, in a turn of events that felt unnaturally dramatic. A minor character who stands out in the series is the cantankerous, perpetually drunk farmer Ram Avtar Singh, portrayed effortlessly by Akhileshwar Prasad Sinha. Living right next to the health centre, Ram Avtar is the one who illegally cultivates crops on government land, creating frequent headaches for the doctor.
Since season one of ‘Gram Chikitsalay‘ is only five episodes long (and it’s evidently made with the hope of being followed up with more seasons), I thought I’d be able to binge-watch it on a Sunday. However, despite its laid-back, comedic rural charm, the show is crafted in a way that doesn’t create significant curiosity or excitement about what’s going to happen next. The second half begins to slack a bit, getting overtly sappy in parts, with different characters either manipulating Dr. Prabhat for their own gains, or giving him sermons about village life. And these sermons get a bit much over time, dissonant with the story’s mostly light-hearted comedic tone.
The cinematography is simple, capturing the rustic charm of rural life, along with curiosities and customs of the northern hinterland. Dr. Prabhat unwittingly finds himself entangled in local politics, courting politicians merely to promote his health centre, unaware of the complications that come with mingling with netas. An excellent background musical score keeps the doctor’s misadventures and struggles upbeat, even when things start to feel a little boring.
Overall, ‘Gram Chikitsalay’ is an amusing one-time watch, rooted in village politics and community interactions.
Rating: 6.5 on 10. Watch Gram Chikitsalay on Prime Video.
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