New Delhi: Season two of Amazon Prime’s much-acclaimed series The Family Man is yet to release but the show is already in trouble for allegedly misrepresenting the Eelam Tamil community in Sri Lanka and the LTTE organisation.
Following the release of the show’s trailer on 19 May, #FamilyMan2AgainstTamils started trending on Twitter. Now, Rajya Sabha MP and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko has written a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar seeking a ban on the new season.
Directed by duo Raj and DK, the show features Manoj Bajpayee, who plays an intelligence agent. Joining the cast this season is Samantha Akkineni, who, in the trailer, appears to play a LTTE member with links to Pakistan and other terrorist outfits.
EXCUSE US FOR WRITING THIS IN CAPS BUT THIS TRAILER HAS ?? OUR MINDS #TheFamilyManOnPrime out on 4th June@SrikantTFM @rajndk @BajpayeeManoj @Samanthaprabhu2 @Priyamani6 @sharibhashmi @sumank @Suparn @shreya_dhan13 @hinduja_sunny @DarshanKumaar @SharadK7 @ishahabali pic.twitter.com/s0a1qpctKs
— amazon prime video IN (@PrimeVideoIN) May 19, 2021
In his letter Sunday, Vaiko called the series an “objectionable show that depicted Tamilians as terrorists and ISI agents and having links with Pakistan”. He said “Tamil-speaking Samantha” was being depicted as a “terrorist” and the visuals had “hurt the sentiments” of Tamil people and Tamil culture, and in all, was offensive against the community.
He also said the “sacrifices made by Tamil Eelam Warriors were wrongly shown as a terrorist act”.
Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) founder Seeman Friday had warned of “dire consequences” if the show was aired.
“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.
Seeman said that the show wrongfully portrayed the Sri Lankan Tamils as an “excessively violent bunch“.
“The show has not portrayed the grave injustice, mighty wounds and unending pain that has been meted out to Sri Lankan Tamils,” he added.
In response, the makers of Family Man say the objections are being made based on a few shots being shown in the trailer. Instead of making assumptions, everyone should watch the full series once it releases.
“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,” they said in an interview.
Earlier, the NTK had demanded a ban on the Shoojit Sircar movie Madras Cafe on the grounds that it showed LTTE and its leader V. Prabhakaran in a bad light. The film was based around the assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Following protests, the makers chose to not release the film in Tami Nadu.
Also read: What LTTE chief Prabhakaran told me about women writing for newspapers