Family Man 2: Another star in the Indian OTT space

The only difference between a revolutionary and a terrorist is of the side from which the story is narrated

Family Man 2 aptly exploits the above fact to make a fabulous comeback on the OTT screen. It takes off from the same level as of the previous season, or in fact from a tad higher one. The plot, cast selection and execution are nothing but commendable. The first 10 minutes of the season surely leave the viewers scratching their head and checking if they accidentally chose the Tamil audio version but by the end, the Tamil dominance makes the entire show look more realistic. The show generates a mix of feelings within the viewer. It makes the heart pound during the last few episodes while gives goosebumps in others. The subtle comedy punches amidst all the tension and thrill are also spot on.

Some observations of the characters:

RAJI

"If women start speaking, every man would be in jail right now and no one would give job to a woman" - Raji

Samantha Akkineni’s character of the rebel Rajalaxmi Chandra AKA Raji proves many points. Her story throws light on the plight of women in their everyday walks of life. It shows the humiliation that women, even today, silently face at the workplace or any public place that largely goes unnoticed. Yet, she is the epitome of Nari Shakti. She shows that a woman in her human form is no less than Durga when the water goes above the roof. She proves that a well determined, motive-driven woman can put the world to her knees. In my opinion, the award for the Best Actor (Female) in OTT has already been taken away.

SRIKANT TIWARI

"When a human gets to its worst, it becomes devil. Mix politics with this, and it becomes a monster" – Srikant Tiwari

Of course, we don’t need to describe his acting in words yet I felt like highlighting few points. One thing that hasn’t changed since Gangs of Wassepur is the accent with which he uses the curse words. His voice as well as execution gives life to the everyday gaalis that makes the viewers not just hear but feel them. Moreover, Anil Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty are the ones who usually get the limelight when it comes to having a youthful face but has Manoj Bajpayee grown by even five years since Veer Zara?

MILIND: Honestly, I could not absorb Sunny Hinduja's face well in my mind in the first season. But this time, every expression that he makes reminds me that he is and will always remain Sandeep Bhaiya (TVF Aspirants) for a large number of people.

PM BASU: The only thing I noticed about this short-timed character is that her appearance, attitude and way towards life make her resemble so much with a current political leader in this country. This comparison gets strengthened once we take into account the regional origin of the surname Basu.

DHRITI & ATHARVA

I’ve hated Dhriti in the first season and it continues in this one too. She’s a typical modern, convent-going teenage girl who takes her parents for granted until she eventually finds out that they are the real ones who genuinely love her. Perhaps, we all have been at her place someday, right? Atharva is a star. Every parent deserves a child like Atharva who is always supportive and caring even when it isn’t expected of him to do so.

Besides, I cannot miss acknowledging the brilliant acting done by all the south Indian characters. It’s not hard to see why people believe that the south Indian film industry is way rich in terms of talent than Bollywood.

Justifying the title, the sequel again succeeds in showing the difficulty of a person trying his best to be a “family man” while performing his other duties. The series also has something for the audience to learn.

• Firstly, it underlines the importance of effective communication in any healthy relationship. It highlights that sometimes, relationships require efforts to sustain.

• Secondly, the blast outside the court (and the chemical leakage in the first season) tells us that some forces are always trying to destabilise peace within and across borders and perhaps that is why we, as public, must not demand a knee-jerk reaction every time such incidents occur because we may not be knowing the real truth.

• Lastly, there are many men and women working in units like TASC who die for our security without getting due credit. This is another reason why we should always remain grateful for our lives and everything that we have.

I’ll give it a 4.5/5 as I’m not sure if a 5-star really exists. There are minor improvements that one can point out but this isn’t some UPSC answer so I will refrain from unnecessarily making this review a balanced one. I’ll leave this with a few of the best dialogues of the series that I liked the most.

JK: Those bloody politicians do all the shit and here we have to die Srikant: JK, we serve the position, not the person holding it

Srikant: We need at least some level of transparency. At least his mother deserves to know that her son wasn’t a terrorist. Kulkarni: Unfortunately, that’s the price of peace

JK: I really love south Indian food. Mutthu: Which south Indian? There are 5 south Indian states.

Having said this, I thank the entire team of Family Man 2 for coming up with such a great series and hope that the Indian OTT industry keeps developing such quality content.

Bonus: Viewers are sure to get divine satisfaction at few scenes that involve Srikant slapping certain characters xD