Manoj Bajpayee on The Family Man facing flak in Tamil Nadu: ‘You will feel very proud of the show’

Manoj Bajpayee reacted to the backlash against The Family Man for allegedly showing Eelam Tamils in a poor light. He urged everyone to watch the show and said that it would make Tamilians ‘feel very proud’.

Manoj Bajpayee, who plays the central character in the Amazon series The Family Man, assuaged the fears of those protesting against the show. The trailer of the second season was at the centre of a controversy over the depiction of Eelam Tamils.

Manoj Bajpayee in The Family Man.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Manoj said that many of the core team members of The Family Man were Tamilians and ‘have done everything possible to show their respect for the Tamil culture and sensibilities’.

“Humare team mein jo main leaders hai, jo lead kar rahe hai iss show ko, khaas kar ke season two ko, yeh zyadatar Tamilians hai (The ones leading our show, especially the second season, are primarily Tamilians). Raj and DK, Samantha (Akkineni), Priyamani, Suman (Kumar), who is the writer… Who can be a better person than these guys to safeguard the interests of Tamil people, friends and viewers? I don’t think anybody can be better than them. They are the people who 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,” he said.

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday backed groups demanding the Centre step in to stop the release of the new season. In a letter to Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, the state government said the web series ‘depicts the Eelam Tamils in a highly objectionable manner’.

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Filmmakers Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, creators of The Family Man, issued a statement saying that certain ‘assumptions and impressions’ have been made on the basis of a few scenes shown in the trailer. “Many of our lead cast members, as well as key members of the creative & writing team, are Tamilians. 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,” they added.

The Family Man 2 revolves around Shrikant Tiwari (Manoj), a middle-class family man who is trying to juggle domestic life and his job of being a spy. In the second season, he will be seen trying to save the country from an imminent attack, planned by Raji (Samantha). The show is due out on June 4.