If you’ve ever had a maid, I can bet on it that you’ve had maid woes. Are you nodding sagely, with an empathetic look on your face? I sincerely hope you are as I’ve just been having the worst time, all thanks to my maid.
Why?
Out of the blue, she just left for her village, without giving me any prior notice. Wait, it gets worse, her replacement didn’t turn up at all * yes, I agree, it would have been more shocking if she had turned up! * Wait, it gets worse further still. This being the holiday and wedding season, I have a continuous stream of house guests and lots of them!
You can well imagine my mood, and state of mind, can’t you.
So, there I was fuming and irritated on the inside, even as I tried to maintain a pleasant facade on the outside, with house guests swarming all over my, now maid-less, house.
My favourite sister-in-law was helping me out, chipping in with housework and talking away 19 to the dozen as she did. I must say, it really helped me feel a lot better.
As I was folding the laundry and my sister-in-law was shelling peas she asked me if I was watching the latest web series by ZEE5, titled What’s Up Panimanishi?
Doesn’t ‘Panimanishi’ mean ‘Maid’ in Telugu, I grimaced, as my sister-in-law grinned?
I confessed to never having heard the name, leave alone watching it. She suggested we should quickly finish our chores so we could catch a few episodes of it.
The next day the elders of the house left for a temple visit, while the others left to attend a wedding they were in the city for. My sister-in-law and I zipped through the morning chores. Very soon, with 2 mugs of steaming tea in front of us, my sister-in-law logged into ZEE5 and introduced me to Jessi.
Jessi is a maid like no other. She is tech savvy and ultra modern and plays the central character in What’s Up Panimanishi. Dhanya Balakrishna essays the role of Panimanishi who is very different from traditional maids. Rakendu Mouli who plays the male lead, Natraj, lives alone, while his parents live overseas. Things get complicated when Natraj’s newly wedded wife, Laks, starts feeling jealous of and inadequate around Jessi’s tech-savvy skills and her friendship with Natraj.
The story also has a weed smoking character who lives next door and Jessi’s boyfriend, who is a police officer.
The hilarious incidents that happen between these characters lead to a shocking revelation about the neighbour whom Jessi, Natraj and Laks become close to, forms the rest of this slick and refreshing series.
Before I knew it my sister-in-law and I were engrossed in watching the series. What an amazing and novel story line this was. A maid like no other, novel supporting characters and hilarious encounters that make you laugh out loud and forget your woes.
I thought the episodes are very well made and crisp, editing kept the pace quick. Natural performances by all the actors made me watch all the episodes in one go.
Watching this web series helped me laugh my maid woes away, and secretly wish for an amazing help like Jessi.
Have you watched What’s Up Panimanishi yet?
