The Family Man will be back with its second season on Friday and fans are waiting with bated breath for the show. The spy series was a big hit when it launched on Amazon Prime Video in 2019. Fans lauded Raj & DK’s style and humour and Manoj Bajpayee’s stellar work as the exceptional spy, stuck in the rut of the middle class.
As the new season fast approaches, here’s reminding diehard fans and letting the non-believers know why the show deserves your attention.
The classy action with a tinge of middle-class life
Spy series, whether in India or Hollywood, have often exaggerated the portrayal of their lead as a larger-than-life action hero. However, The Family Man keeps its lead grounded in reality. Just because youтАЩre a covert agent, does not mean you donтАЩt have тАШcommon manтАЩ problems such as money, family or even getting stuck in traffic. The man keeps running from pillar to post to secure a home loan. Srikant Tiwari is exactly how we would imagine a real spy to be тАУ trying to save the country while dealing with family problems.
Non-Bollywood villains
The Family Man addresses real-world subjects and topics. Not everything is ever as black or white as our Bollywood films would have you believe. Even the so-called тАШbad guysтАЩ have their own reasons, rooted in real-life experiences, which make them do what they do. There are clear grey areas on both sides and the show doesnтАЩt shy away from addressing them.
The hero is not always victorious
While we have been taught that good always wins, there are times when even they experience failure. If youтАЩve watched the first season of the show, you know exactly what weтАЩre talking about. The climax proved that even though there are good guys and bad guys, being on the right side of the narrative doesnтАЩt guarantee anything. Real agents often deal with mission failures, and The Family Man is not scared to show that.
Also read: Shah Rukh Khan’s latest lookalike is confusing fans: ‘I can’t believe my eyes’
Perfect performances
Sometimes the trope with espionage shows or movies is that they spend way too much time jazzing up the lead while paying hardly any attention to secondary characters. This often leads to one-dimensional stereotypes that ruin the experience for everyone. The Family ManтАЩs writers, however, did not fall into that trap. Instead, they worked on developing the secondary characters well, too. JK, Moosa, Saloni–all these characters have well-written arcs and strong characters, irrespective of their screen time.
Who’s in a hurry?
There is not one too slow or too rushed moment in The Family Man. The pacing of the show is one of its best features. We accompany Srikant on his mission across the length and breadth of India in the story, and yet, at no point does it feel like a rushed job. Not many shows manage to have such tight pacing.
ott:10