Story:
A tragedy makes a successful marketing executive return to his village, where he discovers his roots as a farmer. He vows to leave a mark in the world of modern farming, and reclaim the lost honour of his deceased grandfather, which the loan sharks tarnished. From writers Nikhil Sachan, Akash Chawla, and Arunava Joy Sengupta, the Alok Kumar Dwivedi, Gaganjeet Singh-directed Mitti – Ek Nayi Pehchaan tries to showcase the ground reality of rural life in India and how people in villages try to cope with their problems.
Review:
Raghav (Ishwak Singh) returns to his village to attend the cremation of his beloved grandfather. Even though he can’t be back in the city for a few days, he resumes his work and important meetings online, courtesy of work from home. Around the same time, he learns that the reason for his grandfather’s heart attack, which led to his death, is the unpaid loan. After some days, he reappears at his office and tries to work like before, but finds himself torn between his urban and rural life. Upon reflection, he realises that he wants to get his grandfather justice by not only repaying the latter’s dues to the bank but also saving his farm and cultivating a successful harvest.
Many times, drought is blamed for the inability of crops to grow. However, the heavy rain, deterioration of soil, wild animal attacks, and locust infestation are also major factors for the crop failure. The writers quite cleverly place all these issues within the eight episodes and showcase the real pain of the farmers. The series also distinguishes between the thoughts of an educated-aspiring farmer and the villagers, who have been farming for years, but with little knowledge about the technologies and simpler ways. Meanwhile, Mitti also showcases how many IIT and the IIM alumni have returned to their home towns, earning revenues in crores by modern farming.
Apart from focusing on advanced farming and agri loans, the show hits a nostalgic note with the depiction of the old world charm. From following a healthy sleep cycle to strolling through the narrow field lanes to playing barefoot on the soil, and more, Mitti – Ek Nayi Pehchaan makes you yearn for a slow-paced and less complicated life.
But, even with an ambitious vision, the latest heartland series appears jarring in multiple instances. Some of the conversation among the actors and imposed comic sequences seem like needless fillers. At the same time, Mitti also reminds you of TVF’s Gram Chikitsalay starring Amol Parashar, sans the good humour. But despite this, the series holds your attention with its purpose to educate and raise awareness about agro-entrepreneurship, which has been growing rapidly in the country.
Fortunately, the actors make up for all the shortcomings with their honest performances. From Paatal Lok to Rocket Boys to Berlin and more, Ishwak has left an impressive mark on viewers through his various acts. Even though the latest outing mainly sees him as a serious yet sweet boy, the actor gladly surprises you with an angry young man persona on a few occasions. Despite being typecast as a small-town woman, Alka Amin elevates the show with her natural act as always. Yogendra Tiku plays a dead character, who rarely appears on screen, but adds value with his presence.
Pranjal Pateriya and Piyush Kumar impress with their accurate depiction of the aspiring young men, who try to fit in with their city-raised friend with their open hearts and broken English, but find themselves stuck between aspiration and hopelessness. Diksha Juneja shows up occasionally as the city girl and plays her part well, while Shruti Sharma proves to be an example of how an honest civil servant leads the development path by one-on-one conversation with commoners, busting the corrupt people in front of everyone, and more.
A couple of characters remind you of a few popular personalities of OTT, such as Sharat Sonu as the loan collector, who appears a tad bit like Bhushan aka Banrakas from TVF’s Panchayat. The show tries to be as fresh as it can with its apt adaptation of the rural practices, but many times it transports you back to other small-town dramas on the web. Having said that, these similar characters and events still fit into the sequences and serve the purpose.
Verdict:
Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan (2023) depicted a small part of how the loan sharks make the farmers’ lives miserable over their unpaid dues, leading to their death. Meanwhile, this Amazon MX Player show addresses a similar issue as the main plot and showcases the root cause of those unpaid loans by the cultivators. However, Mitti – Ek Nayi Pehchaan triumphs in being an inspirational tale of a farmer and serves hope to many by demonstrating the solutions to the relatable problems at the same time.
Mitti – Ek Nayi Pehchaan
Watch on:Amazon MX Player
Director:Alok Kumar Dwivedi, Gaganjeet Singh
Writer: Nikhil Sachan, Akash Chawla, and Arunava Joy Sengupta
Cast:Ishwak Singh, Alka Amin, Shruti Sharma, Yogendra Tiku, Pranjal Pateriya, Piyush Kumar, Diksha Juneja
Rating:3 stars
