Actor Priyamani has spoken about the hate comments that are directed at her, because some fans are apparently upset about how her character in The Family Man, Suchi, behaves with her husband, Srikant Tiwari, played by Manoj Bajpayee. In the show, it is heavily implied that Suchi cheated on Srikant with her coworker, Arvind, played by Sharad Kelkar.
In an interview, Priyamani said that it is unfair of fans to attack her for a fictional character’s behaviour, especially after the release of season two of The Family Man, which debuted on Amazon Prime on June 4.
Asked if she received any hate mail after the first season, Priyamani told journalist Puja Talwar in Hindi, “Not season one so much, but I got a lot of hate after season two. Almost every day, whatever post I put out on social media, the first thing everybody says is, ‘you shouldn’t have betrayed Srikant’, ‘you shouldn’t have done this to Srikant’, ‘why did you stab Srikant in the back?’.”
She continued, “I laugh it off, but I feel like I must have done something right for them to comment like this. I also hear — and I don’t know if it is right or wrong — but I also hear that Suchi is one of the most hated characters in the web series world right now, post season two. I must have done something right for them to hate the character that much.”
Priyamani said that she discussed this with creators Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK as well, and contemplated addressing the situation publicly, but thought against it.
The ‘Lonavala mein kya hua (What happened in Lonavala)’ mystery remains unresolved, even after season two. This plot thread involves a work trip Suchi went on with Arvind, where it is implied that something happened between them. Raj and DK have said that they wouldn’t like the audience to know what happened between Suchi and Arvind before Srikant is told about it.
Co-director Suparn Varma said that it’s sexist of audiences to point fingers at Suchi, because if a man were in the same position, no one would bat an eyelid. “Why should it be answered? Why can’t Suchi be her own woman and have her own life and her privacy? That’s my personal take,” he said during an interaction with Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.