For Chandan Roy, the first real proof that Panchayat had become a hit did not come from a metric or a Mumbai screening. It came during a lockdown visit to his Bihar village, when a fan chased down the bike he was riding pillion on.
Roy told Hindustan Times that he had assumed the show would mainly be watched in metros such as Mumbai and Delhi. While he was returning with his uncle—holding a sack of flour behind him on the bike—a young fan ran up and stopped them. “Bhaiya, I just watched your show Panchayat; you did such great work in it,” the boy said.
Roy had left a full-time journalism job in Mumbai, spent a year in small television roles, and then landed Panchayat, which premiered in 2020. Its release coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, a timing that pushed more viewers to OTT and helped the series become one of the most popular shows on streaming.
Why a small-town selfie said more than a metro chart
The Mahnar encounter upended Roy’s expectation of where the audience lived. His uncle was just as surprised, and a second person stopped Roy during the same ride. That repeated recognition made the moment feel like a signal rather than a coincidence.
- A fan in Mahnar, Bihar, ran after a bike to praise the show and ask for a selfie.
- Roy had believed Panchayat would be watched mainly in Mumbai and Delhi.
- A second fan stopped him during the same ride, underlining the show’s wider pull.
For an OTT hit, success is often discussed through charts and city-first buzz. Roy’s account points to a simpler ground truth: when a small-town viewer stops you on a village road, the show has crossed over. The moment also captures why 2020-era OTT releases could become national conversations: audiences were home, discovery was high, and a story about rural India could find viewers in the very places it depicted.
From taking any part to choosing better ones
Roy also opened up about the fear of being typecast. When work and money are uncertain, he said, an actor tends not to ask whether the character speaks enough or has a proper scene. Recognition changes that arithmetic. He now chooses or rejects characters, and he avoids roles he feels would box him in—especially the hero ka dost with no backstory of his own.
Working with senior actors such as Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav has sharpened his observation, though he does not copy another performer’s traits. He described Yadav’s method as beautiful: even now, the veteran prepares with a pencil and an open script, reading and rechecking lines as though he were sitting for a board exam.
Roy is currently seen in the short film Aakhri Ride, presented by Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala and written and directed by Yashoda Parthasarthy and Vijesh Rajan. It is streaming on the YouTube channel Oh Short Flips.
Source: Hindustan Times