Seruppugal Jaakirathai series review: Beware of this crime comedy that misses giving you laughs

2/5

Seruppugal Jaakirathai Series Plot

Smuggler Rathinam (Indrajith) hides his precious diamonds inside the sole of his slipper. After he hears of a raid by officials, he switches his slipper with the one belonging to auditor Thyagarajan (Singampuli). Thyagarajan, without knowing this, keeps it at his house only for it to get lost. But when Thyagarajan and his son Ilango realise that they have lost the riches that were just beneath their feet, they embark on an adventurous quest to retrieve them. 

It is available on ZEE5 and OTTplay Premium to watch right now. 

Seruppugal Jaakirathai Series Review

In Seruppugal Jaakirathai, a crime comedy where a father and son duo are on a search to retrieve a slipper filled with diamonds, they end up at the funeral at local politician Ekambaram’s house. The slipper is somewhere buried among the hundreds of pairs of those who have come to pay their last respects. The scene is straight out of a stereotypical script, which warrants a comedy of errors. But what we get is a barrage of nonsensical characters and situations, including a mentally deranged young woman, Vairamala, who is supposedly affected by Dissociative Identity Disorder, made to act as the typecast ‘loosu ponnu’ switching between Vairam and Mala when she gets hiccups. This is only the brink of Seruppugal Jaakirathai, a show whose only positive is its humble runtime.

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To start with, Seruppugal Jaakirathai does not lay its basement right. What we are made to be interested in is how Thyagarajan is quick to deduce that something precious is hiding inside the slippers after a couple of ‘cops’ come to raid his house. But the same Thyagarajan and Ilango take forever to take away the slippers from the bereaved household. Even as the series plot centres around the duo’s struggles to sneak out the footwear, the conflicts they face are not realistic, and the over-the-top portrayal only makes it worse.

For most, the series takes place inside a house where the family of the late politician create the drama. Vairamala is one among them. The episodes too are built in a way where Ilango and Thyagarajan are made to cross each hurdle in the form of a character to get closer to the slippers they are eyeing for. A drunkard with a contrasting personality when he is sober, Ekambaram’s sons who eye the property for themselves, a daughter who tries to be emotionally manipulative, tend to make sure Thyagarajan’s goal is far from achieved, very much like the showrunners attempt to make us laugh. The series feels like a lazily written sketch comedy that only keeps adding characters with no purpose of fulfilment. The blend of unrelatable conflict, illogical character actions, and a string of underdeveloped subplots makes it difficult for the viewer to connect with the story.

Seruppugal Jaakirathai Series Verdict

Seruppugal Jaakirathai misses the mark in delivering an engaging and coherent crime comedy. The major falter in the series is that there is a stark absence of grounded character development and an over-reliance on chaotic, exaggerated situations. Its tedious pacing and poorly executed humour don’t help the show either. Ultimately, Seruppugal Jaakirathai is a missed opportunity; what could have been a charming, quirky adventure turns into a forgettable and often frustrating viewing experience.