“Yes, he has grey shades, is manipulative, very influential and has a touch of crookedness,” Malayalam actor Saiju Kurup says about his role in the latest SonyLIV streaming series Jai Mahendran, adding, “Yet, you won’t hate him… you will love him.” Jai Mahendran marks Saiju’s foray into the world of web series and he’s genuinely excited about its debut this Friday. In an exclusive conversation with The Indian Express, he explains that although the series is crafted with the intent to entertain, it aims to offer more to the audiences.

“The entire series revolves around the revenue department, which includes taluk offices. At least once in their life, everyone will have to visit a taluk office, a village office or a municipal corporation office. In the show, we humorously showcase what happens in these places. For those who haven’t been to these offices, the show will provide glimpses into these spaces and offer a general idea,” he says.

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“Also, once a person takes on the responsibility of looking after their family, visiting such offices for various purposes becomes part of their life. When my father was alive, he handled these tasks and I seldom did any. But after he passed away, those responsibilities fell on my shoulders and I now handle these matters myself. For people like me who have already been to these offices, they will recognise the characters and settings in Jai Mahendran. We are releasing the show in seven languages, including Hindi, Marathi and Bengali, in addition to South Indian languages. Not just people of Kerala; everyone will find something relatable in the show. It’s, however, not a documentary and is presented in a very cinematic way,” he asserts.

Although Jai Mahendran marks his debut in a streaming series, Saiju Kurup notes that the acting process remains the same, regardless of format. Having appeared in around 150 films across Malayalam and Tamil, as well as short films and TV serials, he remarks, “It’s not that when shooting for a short film, you work less and for a big budget film you do more. The only difference between these is related to their budget. While a web series or a movie can afford a larger budget, helping the crews get good cameras and other equipment, short films might have only a limited budget and the teams have to work with that. Nonetheless, the actors’ jobs remain unchanged. If you ask me to perform in front of a large crowd on a stage live, I won’t be able to do that because I am not experienced in that area nor do I have the confidence. However, in front of the camera, whatever the content or format be, I will give my best.”

A person who never anticipated becoming an actor, Saiju considers as a “bonus” each project that he did after winning his “first lottery” in the form of his debut film Mayookham (2005). “I don’t have dream roles anymore. I filter the roles that come my way and focus on quality stories and strong teams. 10 years ago, I would mention during interviews wanting to play characters like those portrayed by Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Mammootty, Mohanlal or Prithviraj Sukumaran. But now, my goal is for newcomers to have at least one of my characters on their list of 15-20 roles they want to play,” he says. Noting punctuality and discipline as his greatest strengths, Saiju shares that the difficulty in gelling with everyone equally is his weakness.

As an actor who has become almost a staple in Malayalam cinema with one film or the other featuring him hitting the screens frequently, Saiju Kurup has become almost a household name with his comedic characters receiving the most praise. Ask him some of the performances that inspired him the most and ignited his passion for acting, Saiju takes out a long list featuring not just those delivered by Malayalam actors, but their Bollywood counterparts too. “Mohanlal’s Thalavattam (1986) and Chithram (1986), and Mammootty’s New Delhi (1987), Soorya Manasam (1982) and Johnnie Walker (1992) are films that inspired me a lot. I grew up in Nagpur watching Hindi films and actors like Mithun Chakraborty, Govinda and Shah Rukh Khan influenced me greatly. Baazigar (1993) and Darr (1993) are two of my all-time favourite films. The same is the case with Mithun Chakraborty’s Disco Dancer (1982), Dance Dance (1987) and Waqt Ki Awaz (1988). After watching his action films as kids, my friends and I would try out Mithun da’s signature moves in our playful fights. Aamir Khan’s performances in Andaz Apna Apna (1994) and Rangeela (1995) too are mind-blowing. In fact, Andaz Apna Apna as a whole, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), starring Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani, and Prahaar: The Final Attack (1991), helmed by Nana Patekar who also played the lead role in it, also inspired me deeply.”

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Mentioning that even those actors who shined in supporting roles in Malayalam films are great artistes, Saiju expresses his admiration for actor Joju George who started off his career as a junior artiste and has reached great heights now.

Before winding up, The Indian Express brought up the changes in the film industry, especially following the release of the Justice Hema Committee report and the several revelations made by survivors in its aftermath. When asked about a positive change he wishes to see, Saiju Kurup suggests adding mobile toilets on movie sets. “On movie sets, there would only be a limited number of caravans and these won’t be enough to satisfy the needs of everyone. If the respective teams could set up mobile washrooms in their movie locations, then life would become easier for everyone.” Also starring Suhasini Maniratnam, Miya and Suresh Krishna among others, Jai Mahendran’s story, screenplay and dialogue have been written by Rahul Riji Nair, who also served as its showrunner, with Srikanth Mohan at the helm.