It’s been a week, since Amazon Prime Video dropped the trailer of much-awaited Season 2 of successful Indian web series, The Family Man. The Family Man 2 stars Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani and Samantha Akkineni in main roles, also co-starring Sharib Hashmi.
While most of the Netizens loved the trailer, the show has landed in trouble for ‘assumed’ portrayal of Tamilians in a bad light with back to back controversies.
The Family Man 2 trailer shows Samantha wearing an LTTE uniform while her dialogues and the direction show them in a not so good light, hurting the sentiments of Tamilians and many others. Here’s what went down –
Twitteratis trend #FamilyMan2_against_Tamils
Just a day after the trailer release, Twitteratis started trended the hashtag to express their protest against the show. They wrote that Tamils were not extremists, but were peace loving people. Right from unsubscribing to the streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video to demanding an apology, there were strong reactions against the show.
Here’s a look at some of their tweets:
Not sure why tamils were always targeted by Bollywood and even other southern region movies.
Spend time to understand what happened in Eezham. Stop force feeding your half baked lies and propaganda.#RacistBollywood #FamilyMan2_against_Tamils— Aravindan G Panneerselvam (@aravindan174) May 19, 2021
These Northies have so many issues to deal with, from drinking cow moothiram to lynching people to death for eating beef. Why do they have to choose a problem and a context which they are not familiar with? #FamilyMan2_against_Tamils
— Dolphin (@dolphinsnodoll) May 19, 2021
The Sri Lankan government killed Tamils in Eelam with banned cluster bombs
Tamils will never accept that the LTTE, which fought to build an army to protect Tamils from it, portrays them as extremists in uniform! @rajndk @Samanthaprabhu2 @PrimeVideoIN#FamilyMan2_against_Tamils pic.twitter.com/pxyZeXrTFE
— தமிழன் சத்யா 2.0 (@tamilansathya2) May 19, 2021
The trailer seems to be portraying tamils as terrorist..without knowing any pinch about Eelam, LTTE and their struggles if you gonna make a series against them.. you will suffer the consequences.. @BajpayeeManoj @Samanthaprabhu2 @rajnidimoru #FamilyMan2_against_Tamils
— Marudha Muthu (@robotalkstamil) May 19, 2021
We demand an explanation or apology from @Samanthaprabhu2 & the director of the movie #Familyman2 for disrespecting the legacy of Tamils.@rajndk @PrimeVideoIN#FamilyMan2_against_Tamils pic.twitter.com/mgJoQ3Sjmv
— ᵛᵒⁱᶜᵉᵒᶠᵏᵃʳᵘʳ (@voiceofkarur47) May 19, 2021
https://twitter.com/TrishikaSharma7/status/1394947075591217157
Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman demands a ban on The Family Man 2
Following the protest against the show on Twitter, Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman demanded a ban on The Family Man 2 for “intentionally portraying the LTTE as terrorists and Tamils as vicious people”.
“If they refuse to ban the show (and) release it country-wide and try to create a false impression about Tamil people, I warn that they will have to face dire consequences,” he said.
Call Off #TheFamilyMan2 Web Series Broadcast; Or Face Dire Consequences!https://t.co/5zWYIaXtAf pic.twitter.com/RvbQzP8YYe
— சீமான் (@SeemanOfficial) May 21, 2021
Rajya Sabha member and MDMK leader requests I&B Minister to ban the show
On May 19, Vaiko sent a letter to I&B minister, Prakash Javadekar stating that the show depicted “Tamilians as terrorists and ISI Agents and having link with Pakistan.”
An excerpt of his letter read, “These descriptions have hurt the sentiments of Tamil people and Tamil culture and offensive against the Tamil community. The people of Tamil Nadu are raising serious objections over such act and are protesting against the Serial.”
Tamil Nadu Govt seeks ban on the show, appeals to Centre
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday wrote to the Union government seeking immediate action either to stop or ban the release of the show on Amazon Prime OTT platform across the country.
Information Technology Minister T. Mano Thangaraj, in his letter to Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, said, the web series could not only hurt the sentiments of Eelam Tamils but also the feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu and “if allowed to broadcast, it would be prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony in the State.”
The TN minister pointed to the portrayal of actor Samantha Akkineni in The Family Man 2 trailer in his letter. “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.
“I would like to bring to your notice about the condemnable, inappropriate and malicious contents of The Family Man 2 serial in Hindi, which depicts the Eelam Tamils in a highly objectionable manner. The trailer of the above said serial which was released in the social media network is aimed at discrediting and distorting the historical struggle of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka,” read a section of the letter.
The creators of the show respond to the controversy
They responded to such controversies in an interview, “Many of our lead cast members and key members of the creative and writing team are Tamilians. We are cognizant of the sentiments of Tamil Nadu people and have nothing but the utmost love and respect towards our Tamil people.”
Raj and DK also released a statement yesterday, “Some assumptions and impressions have been made based on just a couple of shots 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.”
Requesting everyone to watch the show first, they added, “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 1 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.”
The web series is slated to premiere on June 4 on Amazon Prime Video.
