Jayaraj puts in all this effort without accepting any additional payment. “For me, this is social service, not a business. All I ask is a travel allowance,” says the officer, who now does 20 to 28 performances a month across Kerala.

It was his friend Rameshan who first suggested the idea of combining a drug awareness campaign with thullal. “I wasn’t even remotely connected to any art forms,” Jayaraj laughs, recalling how he agreed to try it in the spirit of the moment. Later, his superiors saw the potential and allowed him to make thullal part of his official duties.

“We all know what an ottanthullal track sounds like, right? So I just wrote lines for a track, keeping the rhythm in mind,” he says.

With over two decades in the department, Jayaraj has seen many painful stories — drug-addicted sons attacking parents, robberies committed to fund substance abuse. Many of these stories are referenced in his lyrics, which are later polished by experts.

Though he stumbled into thullal by chance, Jayaraj was clear from the start. He would never disrespect the art form. “The art may be funny to the audience, but the artist should never make fun of the art,” Jayaraj points out.

To do justice, he underwent an 11-day training camp with thullal expert Vayalar Santhosh. To this day, he begins every performance with the traditional Aranguvandanam and Ganapathi Sthuthi.