‘Panchayat 2’, a heart-warming Hindi comedy-drama series that streamed on Amazon Prime Video, yesterday clinched the prestigious inaugural OTT Award for Web Series at the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) held in Goa.

Directed by Deepak Kumar Mishra and written by Chandan Kumar, ‘Panchayat 2’, intricately weaves the tale of Abhishek Tripathi, an urban graduate reluctantly embracing the role of secretary at a decrepit Panchayat Office in a fictional remote village of Phulera situated in Uttar Pradesh.

Following the resounding success of its debut season, the second season plunges deeper into Abhishek’s life in Phulera, where he navigates fresh challenges and some love pangs too amidst the village politics, while preparing for his CAT exams, striving for a corporate future.

This season, laced with relatable moments and abundant humour, candidly depicts the daily trials of a village life, spotlighting Abhishek’s evolving relationships with the village pradhan, Vikas Prahlad, and his wife Manju Devi while juggling diverse village issues.

Earlier, at the inaugural function of the 54th IFFI, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur had said that the Indian streaming industry has seen a boom and original content created in India is employing thousands of people.

Highlighting the dynamic annual growth rate of 28 percent in this sector, the Minister had said that the OTT Awards were introduced to recognise exceptional digital content creators across platforms.

‘Panchayat 2’ stood out among the final nominations, including ‘Rocket Boys’ Season 1 by Abhay Pannu, ‘Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi’ by Rahul Pandey and Satish Nair, and ‘Human’ directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and Mozez Singh.

The jury panel also unanimously recommended special mention to the web series ‘Rocket Boys’ S1that streamed on SonyLiv. The competition received 32 entries spanning 10 languages from 15 OTT platforms.