Oct 29, 2026 12:37pm IST
‘Panchayat’ Season 5: Phulera Will Change Forever; Faisal Malik Warns Fans of ‘Wild’ Twists (EXCLUSIVE)
“'Panchayat' Season 5 is going to take a drastic turn. There will be a lot of shifts and changes in the lives of all the characters. Needless to say, the show will continue to serve comedy and drama like in the last four seasons, but there will be something very wild which will catch you off guard,” Malik tells Variety Indiaexclusively.
Related Stories
Created by Deepak Kumar Mishra and Chandan Kumar, "Panchayat" follows Abhishek Tripathi (Jitendra Kumar), an engineering graduate who takes up the position of panchayat secretary in the fictional Uttar Pradesh village of Phulera. Over four seasons, the Prime Video series has built its world through the everyday absurdities of village life, local politics, and the relationships between its residents. Prahlad, played by Malik, has emerged as a pivotal presence in that ensemble, with the character’s personal struggles giving the show some of its most affecting moments.
For Malik, the experience of inhabiting Prahlad for more than half a decade has gone beyond memorising a character’s mannerisms or anticipating how he might react in a given situation. He says he has developed an instinctive understanding of the role, one that allows him to imagine the character’s responses even before a new script puts him in a particular situation.
“I have played the character of Prahlad for half a decade now, so I have a blueprint for him in my subconscious, ready at all times. I have a rough idea in my head of where he can go and where I can take him. I know how and what he will do when situations are thrown at him. This character has given me a whole lot in life,” he states.
That familiarity, however, comes with its own complications. The success of a widely watched character can shape how an actor is perceived, often leading to expectations that subsequent performances should reproduce the qualities audiences have come to recognise. Malik says he has encountered this pattern throughout his career, including after his appearance as a police officer in Anurag Kashyap’s "Gangs of Wasseypur". The response to that performance, he recalls, brought with it requests to revisit a similar character—an expectation he was unwilling to fulfil simply because the role had made an impression.
“But I cannot play him everywhere. The brief people give me at times is quite bad. Like, I played a cop in 'Gangs of Wasseypur', and I had so many people come to me saying they wanted me to do something similar. They have an image in mind, and I cannot give in to that. The same happened after 'Panchayat' as well. But then, it is a choice to not repeat myself,” Malik says.
His distinction is an important one: while a character can become closely identified with an actor, that association need not dictate every role that follows. Malik acknowledges what Prahlad has brought into his life, but he is equally clear that playing a familiar version of himself on screen is not the only way forward. The challenge is to preserve what makes a character distinctive without allowing that success to become a template for every subsequent performance.
That tension makes the next season of "Panchayat" particularly significant for Malik. He has spent years building an intimate understanding of Prahlad, but the actor’s hints suggest that the character, like the rest of Phulera, will be pushed into unfamiliar territory. The specifics remain under wraps, and Malik offers no details about the nature of the promised twists. For now, his assurance is that the fifth season will bring meaningful changes without abandoning the humour and emotional grounding that have defined the series.
"Panchayat" Season 5 is expected to return to Prime Video in 2026, although an official premiere date has not been announced.
Comments are moderated. They may be edited for clarity and reprinting in whole or in part in Variety publications.