The taut six episodes of the SonyLIV Malayalam series Jai Mahendran<\/i> will hit a spot with anybody who has even a passing acquaintance with the bureaucracy of a tahsil office (commonly known as taluk office) anywhere in the country. The universality of the experience of making repeated rounds around the office \u2014 which primarily handles land revenue administration \u2014 irrespective of the outcome, is relatable. Created and produced by National Award-winning writer-director Rahul Riji Nair and directed by Srikanth Mohan, the series pans in on a fictional taluk office and its motley group of employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n Saiju Kurup makes his streaming debut as the cunning Mahendran G, the go-to deputy tahsildar at a fictional tahsil office in Thiruvananthapuram. He is the man with the solution \u2014 by hook or by crook \u2014 for any problem the department may face, and alternates between being a crook and a good-hearted, helpful government servant. <\/p>\n Casting Rahul Riji as Mahendran\u2019s right-hand man Balu, his \u2018partner in crime\u2019 and conscience keeper, is a clever choice; the others in the cast include Suhasini Maniratnam, Miya George, Suresh Krishna, Johny Antony, Siddhartha Siva, Vishnu Govindan, Zhinz Shah, Pauly Valsan and others.,<\/p>\n The casting is on point with Suhasini Maniratnam as the wrongly-accused and suspended tahsildar, Suresh Krishna as her replacement who ends up having to take responsibility for a mess not of his making, Miya George as Mahendran\u2019s wife and voice of reason, Siddhartha Siva as the conniving file keeper and so on; even though most of the roles are not full length, the actors have all delivered.<\/p>\n While the first three episodes set the stage introducing us to Mahendran and how he operates,\u00a0the following episodes chart his fall from grace and his comeback. Falsely implicated in a graft case, Mahendran and the tahsildar, essayed by Suhasini, are suspended; we then get to witness how he cleverly manipulates the system that he was part of, to get back their jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Director:<\/b> Srikanth Mohan <\/p>\n Cast:<\/b> Saiju Kurup, Suhasini Maniratnam, Miya George, Suresh Krishna, Johny Antony, Balachandran Chullikad, Vishnu Govindan, Sidhartha Siva, Renjith Shekhar, Rahul Riji Nair<\/p>\n Duration:<\/b> 6 episodes (30 minutes each)<\/p>\n Storyline: <\/b>The workings of a government office, a revenue official\u2019s fall from grace, and how he manipulates the system he is part of to make a comeback<\/p>\n<\/div>\n What is shown is the fate of many people who have to make often futile trips to such offices often for years together. For instance, there is Shaji (Vishnu Govindhan) who comes to the tahsil office seeking redress, but the land he had been allotted is non-existent for all practical purposes! We get a peek into how helpless the officials are, their hands often tied by an apathetic system, the office politics driven by divergent political leanings, and also their sense of power (which they unfortunately possess).<\/p>\n \nA still from \u2018Jai Mahendran\u2019\u00a0\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n Jai Mahendran <\/i>also pans in on the entire ecosystem of corruption which includes politicians, the media that is always on the lookout for \u2018breaking news\u2019, and agenda-driven, publicity craving \u2018activists\u2019 looking for primetime slots.\u00a0And of course, there is corruption and enforcement directorate raids. Some of the material comes across a bit clich\u00e9d, but it is also the unfortunate reality. <\/p>\n The series has the feel of movies from the 1980s and the \u201890s with a bright and cheery vibe, and the episodes are kept at under 30 minutes, populated by rooted, regular, angst-free folks, unlike most streaming content nowadays. It is also very different from Rahul Riji\u2019s First Print Studios-produced Kerala Crime Files<\/i>, a crime thriller streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. <\/p>\n At times while watching Jai Mahendran, <\/i>one gets the feeling that the writing could have had more depth. But this is, after all, a light-hearted take on the goings-on in a government office. There is scope for a deeper exploration, which, if there is a second season, we might get to see. However, there is no denying that parts of the show Verdict? It is worth the time spent watching it. <\/p>\n If one were to go by how Jai Mahendran <\/i>ends, we can safely expect another meeting with Mahendran and gang soon!<\/p>\n Jai Mahendran is currently streaming on SonyLIV<\/i><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/5mslsm\/article68709340.ece\/alternates\/SQUARE_80\/kimp_jaimahendran.JPG\")
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<\/picture><\/div>\n\nA still from \u2018Jai Mahendran\u2019\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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