
Days before its release, ‘The Family Man 2’ was involved in a controversy over its portrayal of Eelam Tamils in a bad manner. Samantha Akkineni would purportedly portray a suicide bomber in the second season of ‘The Family Man,’ prompting protests demanding for the series to be banned because it offended Eelam Tamils and the people of Tamil Nadu.
The Tamil Nadu government even approached the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, requesting that the web series be removed from the OTT platform Amazon Prime Video.
In the midst of the continuous protests, Amazon Prime Video has obtained a gag order on Samantha Akkineni, prohibiting her from commenting publicly about the show. A trade source told Bollywood Hungama, “There are always protests to certain characters or portrayals in films or series, this comes since the audience are only exposed to a small part of what to expect, which could look a certain way. In the case with Samantha’s character in The Family Man 2, people have taken an objection to her character, but they have not really seen the full range of what she portrays.”
The source also added, “Amazon Prime Video like most content creators would like to avoid controversies prior to the release of their venture. The gag order to refrain from speak about the show is exactly that, so the audience feeling and sentiments that have been hurt can be assuaged.”
Meanwhile, director pair Raj and DK stated in a statement issued by actor Manoj Bajpayee, “Some assumptions and impressions have been created based on just a couple of images in the trailer.” Many of our main cast members, as well as key creative and writing team members, are Tamilians. We are fully aware of the Tamil people’s and Tamil culture’s sentiments, and we have nothing but love and respect for our Tamil people.”