Any person who has had the misfortune of having to go to government offices to get a certificate or any property deed issued would be well aware of the red tape. This predicament of the ordinary folks who are shooed away with the casual ‘come back after two days’, and the happenings at a taluk office are showcased in a light-hearted manner in the series Jai Mahendran that dropped on SonyLiv recently. The Malayalam series trains its lens on a taluk office in the Kerala capital, but the incidents that are showcased could be from any office in the country and would resonate well with the common people.

But invariably, these offices would also have a ‘Mahendran’ (Saiju Kurup) who knows how to get hold of the decades-old documents from the dusty shelves and the service can be expedited if one knows to repay in kind and more. With its relatable characters, both as the exasperated layman and the mostly callous staff, and typical sarkar office setting, Jai Mahendran presents a cross-section of Kerala in a nutshell.

Saiju Kurup plays Mahendran

The white-mundu-white-shirt-clad Mahendran is a deputy tehsildar in the taluk office in Kerala capital. We first see him as he rides his scooter, a blue Bajaj, heading to a sea-side stall where an elderly woman is vehemently arguing with the government officials, refusing to let her stall be demolished to make way for a government building. All the government staff are desperately trying to diffuse the situation, but she and her supporters refuse to back down. And in walks Mahendran, who convinces Jancy chechi (Pauly Valsan) to have a one-on-one talk. In no time, he strikes a deal with Jancy chechi as she too knows how to play her cards well. The series surely has picked on the oft-repeated scenes that play out on news channels every time an encroachment issue crops up in the state, and of course, added the filmy twist to it.

Relatable characters, rooted setting

The action then shifts to the taluk office, where Mahendran along with his ‘aide’ Balu (played by Rahul Riji Nair, who is also the creator of the series), ‘deal’ with the people who come up to them with various requests. In scene after scene, we see people climbing up the stairs of the office, in the hopes of getting their issues resolved, hitting a pause to their daily lives. A youth who wants a genuinity certificate, a father who is looking for clarity on the title deed issued to him, a mother who comes to the office with her son and refuses to leave until her issue is resolved, all form part of the narrative. Saying that that the series draws inspiration from real-life events would be stating the obvious since all these characters and incidents are way too familiar for the liking of the layman in the state.

Mahendran too meets a strong contender in the newly posted Tehsildar Shobha, Suhasini Maniratnam.

We see more dynamic characters as the cunning lawyer, who is parading as an RTI activist; the woman staff who would rather chat over phone or take part in the social activities of the office than issue the certificate, and the file-keeping officer who is looking for a chance to pay back Mahendran.

Even a snake that seems to have found its way to the shelves adds to the humour of the narrative.

Most of the series revolves around the fictional taluk office, and with its musty interiors, dusty shelves, and mounds of files with the red tape would remind people of the any number of sarkar offices they would have had to frequent. Also, the bunch of people haggling with the officials in front of each desk are scenes that are way too familiar.

Sprinkled with witty dialogues, and some engaging performances, the series promises an entertaining watch. Directed by Srikanth Mohan, the light-hearted series also features Miya George, Suresh Krishna, Maniyanpilla Raju, and Balachandran Chullikkad.

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