''Paanch Phoron'' is a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

that is available on a regional OTT platform called Hoichoi as of February 14, 2019. The series is a collection of five romantic stories produced by five different directors. It is named after the

panch phoron Panch phoron, Panch Phodan or Pancha Phutana is a whole spice blend, originating from the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and used especially in the cuisine of Eastern India and Northeastern India, especially in the cuisine of Bhojpur, ...

spice blend, which means 'five spices'. The series has been well received and is currently on its second season. The series stars

Jaya Ahsan Jaya Maswood (born 1 July), commonly known as Jaya Ahsan, is a Bangladeshi actress and producer. Starting her career as a model and, later, as a television actress, she currently works mostly in Bangladeshi and Indian Bengali films. She won Ba ...

Anirban Bhattacharya Anirban Bhattacharya (born 7 October 1986) is an Indian actor, theatre actor, singer and director. His first successful theatre production was ''Debi Sarpamasta'', written by Manoj Mitra, directed by Debesh Chattopadhyay. His other notable work ...

Siam Ahmed Siam Ahmed is a Bangladeshi television and film actor. He made his debut as Afnan in a Bangladeshi telefilm Bhalobasha 101. He is best known for his debut role in the film '' PoraMon 2''. He is also well known for his various roles in Bengali T ...

Masuma Rahman Nabila Masuma Rahman Nabila is a Bangladeshi television presenter, model and actress. She started her career in 2006 as a TV host. Early life Nabila was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Her father Lutfar Rahman was appointed as an auditing officer in ...

, and

Riddhi Sen Riddhi Sen is an Indian film actor who predominantly works in Bengali films. He is a regular actor of the theatre group Swapnasandhani and is an alumnus of South Point school, Kolkata. In 2010, he received a special talent award from his schoo ...

Cast

*Derek Ngoni Moyo *

Sohini Sarkar Sohini Sarkar is an Indian Bengali film and television actress. She played the title character in the 2011–2012 TV series ''Adwitiya''. Sarkar made her film debut in the 2013 film ''Rupkatha Noy''. In the same year she acted in the film ''Phor ...

Vikram Chatterjee Vikram Chatterjee is an Indian actor of Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. He made his big screen debut with a small role in Mainak Bhowmik's 2012 movie ''Bedroom (film), Bedroom'' and was immediately noticed. In the same year he acted in B ...

*Rajnandini Paul *

Sohag Sen Sohag Sen (Bengali: সোহাগ সেন) is a Bengali theater actress, director and casting director. Career Sohag Sen is on the visiting faculty of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and Rabindra Bharati University, and is the H ...

* Rawnak Hasan *

Zakia Bari Momo Zakia Bari Mamo is a Bangladeshi model and actress who is best known around the country as Lux Channel I Superstar. After winning the Lux Channel I Superstar beauty pageant in 2006, she got a chance to act in ''Daruchini Dip''. For her role in ...

*Krittika Chakraborty * Rohit Samanta *Debparna Chakraborty *

Tariq Anam Khan Tariq Anam Khan (born 10 May) is a Bangladeshi actor, director, writer and producer in theatre, television, and film. He was awarded the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actor in Negative role for the film Desha: The Leader in 2014 and in ...

* Yash Rohan *

Orchita Sporshia Orchita Sporshia is a Bangladeshi film actress and film maker. She owns production company ''Kochchop Films''. She has performed in over 100 television dramas, short films, and telefilms, including ''Shubornopur'', ''Shaola'' and BBC produced '' ...

Amrita Chattopadhyay Amrita Chattopadhayay is a Bengali film actress. Her debut film was Buddhadeb Dasgupta's ''Anwar ka Ajab Kissa'' After that, she acted in a number of Bengali, Hindi, and multilingual films. Early life and education Amrita did her schooling at ...

*Anindya Sengupta *Aindrila Sharma *Ritwika Pal *Anindya Pulak Banerjee *Biswajit Ghosh *

Monir Khan Shimul {{redirect, Monir, the village in Iran, Monir, Iran Muneer (also spelled Moneer, Monir, Mounir, or Muneyr, ar, منير, meaning ''illuminating'', ''lightsome'', ''bright'', ''luminous'') is a masculine Arabic given name, it may refer to: Given na ...

*Ahmed Hasan Suny *

Zinat Sanu Swagata Zinat Sanu Swagata ( bn, জিনাত শানু স্বাগতা); better known as Swagata is a Bangladeshi actress, presenter and musician. Biography At the age of three and a half years, she entered into the world of acting as ...

*Farhana Mithu *Sudip Biswas Deep *Sneha Chatterjee Bhowmik *Missouri Rashid

Season 1 (2019)

Indian video streaming service Hoichoi released the five-episode first season on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

in 2019 . The first episode, 'Phoringer Bou', is directed by Arka Ganguly. A young girl from a suburban city struggles to make friends due to her shy and quiet nature. The story begins with her newly made playmates marrying her to a dragonfly. In the second episode, titled 'Gopone Prem Charan' and directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay, a young man falls in love with a married woman. The third episode, titled 'Lilith', is directed by

Dipankar Dipon Dipankar Dipon (born 22 May 1976) is a Bangladeshi film director and screenwriter who works in Dhallywood. His first feature film was cop thriller '' Dhaka Attack'' (2017), which won four National Film Award in 2017 including Best Film, Best Act ...

. The story is set in the city of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

, Bangladesh, where a fictional new technology, "the national truth rating", has taken the country by storm. The fourth episode, 'Biroho Uttor', is directed by Bangladeshi director

Tauquir Ahmed Tauquir Ahmed (born 5 March 1966) is a Bangladeshi architect and actor, turned director in both television and cinema. His films won many international and national awards including Bangladesh National Film Awards in the Bangladesh National Film ...

. In this story, a man struggles to keep his job. The final episode of the season, titled 'Ekti Paati Premer Golpo', and directed by Abhishek Saha, portrays the love of two childhood friends, now adults.

Episodes

Season 2 (2020)

Hoichoi launched the second season on 14 February 2020. This season stars Swastika Mukherjee,

, Saurav Chakraborty, and more. This season, like the first, presents five individual stories of love, each directed by different directors.

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

Bhaskar Chattopadhyay, writing in

Firstpost ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...

, rated the series three out of five stars saying "Paanch Phoron offers a satisfying and palatable fare by the end of it all, leaving you asking for a second helping". Antara Chakraborthy of

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

writes "The first episode (my favourite) of Season 1 is a beautiful take on innocent love that happens in life before you even understand what love is. The episode takes its own time, but it never bothers us. The slow pace shows us exactly how laidback life is in a small town. The music, picturization and the director’s eye for detail make the episode a very memorable one."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, tt9773318 Indian web series 2017 web series debuts Bengali-language web series Hoichoi original programming