Panchayat director Deepak Kumar Mishra’s tips on crafting a hit show

Deepak Kumar Mishra’s honest, heart-warming, humorous depiction of rural life is refreshing, in the Amazon Prime series Panchayat. On IMDb, the Internet Movie Database, users have given it a glowing rating of 8.9 on 10. Mishra, who has had no formal training in filmmaking, began his career lampooning Raghu Ram, the acerbic, urbane host of MTV Roadies, in a parody show called TVF Rowdies, in 2012. A decade later, he says he loves to act, but it’s directing that has his heart and soul. Here, he discusses what went into crafting Panchayat. Season 2 is now streaming on Amazon Prime.