“Modern famine” is a phrase rarely heard in shows on streaming platforms. Amazon MX Player’s Mitti might be an inspirational series about a marketing executive who decides to become a farmer. But the Hindi show also smuggles in truths about the problems faced by Indian agriculturists, from debt to unpredictable weather patterns.
Raghav (Ishwak Singh) is adept at selling “Bharat” to urban Indians. But when it’s time for an actual return to roots, Raghav finds his presentation skills falling short.
Raghav’s beloved grandfather Sudarshan (Yogendra Tiku) has accumulated a huge loan on his plot of cultivated land. Memories of happier times spent in the field, the desire to reclaim Sudarshan’s honour, and a stubborn need to succeed at farming persuade Raghav to take over Sudarshan’s operation.
The obstacles include the loan recovery agent Girdhari (Sharat Sonu), who is as nasty as they come. Naysayers scorn Raghav’s inexperience. Raghav’s girlfriend Stuti (Diksha Juneja) back in the city starts to run out of patience.
The weather does its own thing. There are locusts and nilgais to tackle.
With the the help of the no-nonsense government official Kritika (Shruti Sharma) and the experience of other farmers, Raghav gains a better understanding of what he needs to do. Kritika’s support points to the positive role that committed administrators can play in making farming profitable.
The eight-episode show, written by Nikhil Sachan, Akash Chawla and Arunava Joy Sengupta, does a fine job of layering a feel-good premise with ground realities. Especially in the early episodes, Raghav’s dilemmas and challenges are within the realm of possibility.
In a poignant scene, Raghav’s father reminds him of the sacrifices that have been made to ensure a better life beyond the village. Sudarshan too tells Raghav that while ripened fruit gets sent to the city, the tree on which it is grown stays back.
Romanticising farming doesn’t help Raghav one bit – directors Gangajeet Singh and Alok Kumar Dwivedi ably bring out this truth. Mitti unfolds in unglamorous settings and has welcome detailing about farming culture, from discussions about soil analysis to events where cultivators proudly show off their produce.
The show loses some of its rigour in the later episodes, which feel like a PowerPoint presentation by the agriculture ministry. The leap from failure to success via tech hacks seems far too easy.
Although the makers succumb to the kind of pep talk given by Raghav in his previous avatar, Mitti distinguishes itself from similarly themed shows simply by picking an unusual theme and following it with curiosity for the most part.
Apart from a compelling performance by Ishwak Singh, the show has a fine turn by Alka Amin as Raghav’s grandmother. Pranjal Pateriya and Piyush Kumar play Raghav’s sidekicks, who are to Mitti what Faisal Malik and Chandan Roy are to Jitendra Kumar in the popular Prime Video series Panchayat.
In several ways, Raghav is a foil to Panchayat’s Abhishek, who struggles to fit into a village. Raghav’s return journey is more dreamy-eyed, but Mitti manages to make this dream appear within reach.
