Manoj Bajpayee, the lead actor of Amazon Prime Video series The Family Man 2, has reacted to the calls for banning the show for presenting Tamilians in a 'highly objectionable manner'. In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Bajpayee said that many from the core team of The Family Man are Tamilians and ‘have done everything possible to show their respect for the Tamil culture and sensibilities’.
"The people leading our show, primarily the second season, are Tamilians. Raj and DK, Samantha (Akkineni), Priyamani, Suman (Kumar), who is the writer… who else can be better than these guys to safeguard the interests of Tamil people, friends and viewers? They have been leading this show, they have created this show and they have done everything possible to show their respect for the Tamil culture and sensibilities".Manoj Bajpayee, Actor
Manoj Bajpayee requested everyone to watch the show before judging. “You will feel very proud of the show. This is one series which believes in diversity.”
On 24 May, the Tamil Nadu government wrote a letter to the Centre seeking an immediate halt or ban on the release of Manoj Bajpayee's upcoming series The Family Man 2 set to release on Amazon Prime (on 4 June), citing a 'highly objectionable' portrayal of the Eelam Tamil.
Following the release of the trailer too, a number of people took objection to the portrayal of Samantha Akkineni's character. Samantha plays the role of a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel in the 9-part series.
The first call to ban the show came from Tamil Nationalist and Naam Tamizhar Katchi chief S Seeman whose party was the third most popular after DMK and AIADMK in the 2021 polls. Warning the makers of 'dire consequences', he said in a statement, "If they refuse to ban the show and if they release it country-wide to try and create a false impression about Tamil people, I warn that they will have to face dire consequence."
The makers Raj and DK also released a statement requesting people not to pay heed to speculations.
(With inputs from Bollywood Hungama)
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