Have utmost respect towards Tamil people: ”The Family Man 2” directors amid boycott calls in TN

PTI, May 25, 2021, 12:06 PM IST

Mumbai: “The Family Man” creators Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK say they respect the sentiments of Tamil people and have come up with “a sensitive, balanced, and riveting story” in the second season of the show, which is facing controversy over its alleged depiction of Eelam Tamils.

Fronted by Manoj Bajpayee, “The Family Man” season two was scheduled to return earlier this year on Amazon Prime Video but got postponed following controversies around the streaming platform’s shows “Tandav” and “Mirzapur”.

Now, the sophomore season, set in Chennai, is scheduled to be released on June 4.

It will see Bajpayee”s Srikant Tiwari pitted against a new and powerful adversary, Raaji, played by South star Samantha Akkineni.

There have been calls for the boycott of the series in Tamil Nadu, with IT Minister T Mano Thangaraj writing a letter to Centre over the show’s depiction of Eelam Tamils in a “highly objectionable manner”.

In their statement, Nidimoru and DK said they respect the sentiments of the Tamil people and stressed that assumptions should not be made based on the trailer.

“Some assumptions and impressions have been made based on a couple of shots in the trailer. We are very cognizant of the sentiments of the Tamil people and Tamil culture and have nothing but the utmost love and respect towards our Tamil people,” the filmmaker duo said.

Nidimoru and DK insisted that they have presented a “sensitive, balanced, and riveting story”, which they are hopeful the audience will appreciate.

“We have put in years of hard work into this show, and we have taken great pains to bring to our audiences a sensitive, balanced, and riveting story – much like we did in season one of the show.

“We request everyone to wait and watch the show when it releases. We know you’ll appreciate it once you watch it,” they added.

Thangaraj, in his letter to Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday, claimed the show “intentionally undermined” the historical struggle of the Eelam Tamils.

“A serial loaded with insults and insinuations against the glorious Tamil culture could never be considered as the one having any broadcasting value.

“Branding Tamil speaking actress Samantha as a terrorist in the serial is directly an attack on the pride of Tamils living around the world and no one will tolerate this kind of motivated and mischievous campaign,” he said.

Earlier, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) Founder Seeman has also demanded a ban on the show for portraying Tamils in the negative light.