Stop Release of ‘Family Man 2’ – demands groups; Tamil Nadu govt. backs them

It almost seemed unfortunately inevitable that The Family Man Season 2 will be witnessing a splurge of controversies as soon as it released the trailer and further confirmed that the second season will release on 4th June 2021. After being delayed for a while, the trailer brought happiness amongst the ardent fans but has now invited a massive controversy amongst some groups.

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday backed groups demanding the Centre step in to stop the release of The Family Man 2 web series on Amazon Prime. 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’. Information Technology Minister T Mano Thangaraj’s letter called the web series “condemnable” and “malicious”.

In a statement announcing the state government’s opposition to the The Family Man 2, the government said it was “aimed at discrediting and distorting the historical struggle of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka.”

“For example, 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.” Samantha Akkineni plays the role of a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel in The Family Man 2, a 9-episode series.

The criticism of the web series on social media started soon after the trailer was released. Soon, political parties started extending their support.

The first to call for a ban on the The Family Man 2 was Tamil nationalist and chief of Tamil nationalist and Naam Tamizhar Katchi chief S Seeman who considers LTTE’s Prabhakaran as his idol. In the 2021 polls, his party emerged as the third largest after DMK and AIADMK.

He said the The Family Man 2 portrayed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organisation and Tamils as violent people.

The LTTE, founded by Velupillai Prabhakaran in 1976 to create an independent Tamil Eelam out of Sri Lanka, was banned in India after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assasination in May 1991.

“If they refuse to ban the show and if they release it country-wide to try and create a false impression about Tamil people, I warn that they will have to face dire consequences,” Seeman said in a statement last week.

On Sunday, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief Vaiko also wrote to Javadekar to stop the release of The Family Man 2, saying that it depicted Tamilians as terrorists and ISI agents.