DK And Raj Open Up About Long Tamil Sequences, Raji

Mumbai: The Family Man season 2 starring Manoj Bajpayee as Srikant Tiwari and Samantha Akkineni as Raji is constantly receiving appreciation for their performances in the popular web show. Now, creators – Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK shed some light on Srikant and Raji’s character and how lying is a part of Srikant’s work but Raji was smart enough to not believe in his lies. They also talked about long Tamil sequences in The Family Man 2 and why they chose to keep it that way. Also Read – The Family Man 2 Creators on Turning Samantha Akkineni Aka Raji’s Skin Tone Several Shades Browner

Speaking with News 18, DK said that they wanted to tell the story in the ‘most authentic way’. He was quoted as saying, “I can also imagine and we were aware of it. For us, we wanted to tell a story in the most authentic way. We had to have a character speaking in Tamil and everybody speaking in their language for that matter. But purely for the length of the scene, you can’t start cutting down them. Thinking that there is too much Tamil, so let’s cut it seems like compromising the character in the milieu. We had to give it the same time and treatment as a character that’s speaking Hindi. For example, if you want to know more about Prime Minister Basu or Milind, you give them the time to speak their mind, so we deliberately did the same for the Tamil characters in the story. We gave them the time so that people could understand their motivation and feel their emotions. From a purely commercial angle, it may feel like a tight rope we are walking.” Also Read – The Family Man 2: Abhay Verma Aka Kalyan Thanks Viewers For Their Overwhelming Response, Netizens Call Him ‘Heera’

Raj added, “We believed in the audience that they would give us a little more leeway and openness so that we can show a little more and they won’t be frustrated already. Even when a representative from Amazon saw the first season and there was a long sequence in Malayalam, he clapped and said ‘yes, this is the idea of pan-India.’” Also Read – Ray Trailer Out: Anthology of Four Gripping Stories Inspired By Satyajit Ray, Can Mankind Be Equal To God?

They even spoke about brownface allegations in regard to Samantha’s character Raji. Raj said, “It’s really the character. At the end of it, if we look down upon on such things in the context of beauty by saying somebody is dark, somebody is fair, here she is a soldier. She is a warrior, a weapon, a person who is living under harsh, rough and edgy circumstances. So, it’s like how she learnt to fight so convincingly, I don’t know if you have seen a female character fight so convincingly before, all credits to Samantha, the idea was to make her into that.”

“If she has to look a certain way, she has to be fit. She had to learn martial arts for the role, learn the language and she also had to look a certain way, dress in a particular way. It’s the whole packaging and there is no commentary about the skin colour”, DK added.

Talking about how Srikant’s lying adds dimension to Bajpayee’s character, DK said, “The irony in the first part was that Srikant lied and Musa probably believed him, but guess what, Srikant also bought into Musa’s lies so convincingly. In this season, Raji straightaway caught his lie and spoke the truth.”

Raj added, “What’s amazing is that the character of Srikant Tiwari is so flawed. You’re not only lying to your wife and kids but even to Milind who is going through PTSD. We don’t know if it was real or not but probably he lied there as well. It’s not for effects but for the greater good as per Srikant. The idea is to accept the flaws, and as long as there is some integrity then there is a hero.”