Finally there is a web series which truly explores the geo-political conflict twice over and that too rather successfully. If the first season took on ISIS agents, the second focuses on the Tamil rebels operating out of Sri Lankan and then venturing into Tamil Nadu. The best part about this nine episode web series is the fact that it is far more deep rooted than one could have imagined. So even as drama fluctuates between Sri Lankan forests, Colombo, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, London, and at one point in time even a city in France, it is not gimmicky.
Now that’s something wonderfully done by Raj & DK as they never end up making The Family Man 2 look gimmicky. It is all organic where everything from drama, action to thrills is realistically done and still it is all high octane. There is time spent by the writers of the show (Suman Kumar along with Raj & DK) to help viewers understand the characters, their background and their motive, and this is what allows you to build connect with all of them, regardless of the screen time that they get to enjoy in this action packed action drama.
Yet again, Manoj Bajpayee leads from the front and since his character arc has already been detailed well in the first season, you known that soon enough he would leave his newly found IT corporate job and get back on the field with his stead partner [Sharib Hashmi] and boss [Dalip Tahil] at TASC. However, till that happens, it is ultra amusing to see the manner in which his over aggressive young achiever boss [Kaustubh Kumar] gets on his nerves time and again. There is quintessential Raj & DK humor coming into play here which keeps you entertained.
What entertains the most of the manner in which first couple of episodes are focused on detailing the conflict of the Tamil rebels and the whole ‘how’ and the ‘why’ behind it. Even though it’s all in Tamil, you don’t mind that since the subtitles help in giving the context and most importantly, you find certain level of authenticity which only makes you nod in approval. Be it the Sri Lankan rebel leader [Mime Gopi] and his partner [Azhagam Perumal] or the Pakistani officer [Darshan Kumar] and his agent [Shahab Ali], you get to understand them all.
However, the woman you want to understand the most is the new entrant in the arena, Samantha Akkineni. Her overtly sad expression and the meek manner in which she allows even the molesters to have a way with her only makes you fear her all the more since you know there is a lot simmering inside her. You do get more than just a hint of the back-story which would have led to her troubled present and considering the fact that terrorist attack on Indian PM [Seema Biswas] is imminent, you know that there is going to be heavy explosions in the future.
Well, there are not just explosions but also bullets as well as hand-to-hand combats galore as the action packed web series continues to move ahead with at least one major sequence per episode. Right from the brilliantly crafted opening sequence where the rebels are introduced to the middle of the show when a chase sequence featuring Samantha and the entire team led by Manoj Bajpayee ensues to the jailbreak sequence which leads to a bloody series of events to the climax where a deadly attack is about to occur, you get to experience a big screen feel.
What impresses though in the midst of all is the manner in which each and every character leaves a mark. While Manoj Bajpayee and Sharib Hashmi take off from where they left in the first season, Samantha impresses well with her silence, and later martial arts. Notwithstanding her distracting make-up which makes her look many shades different from her real self, you like what she has to offer. On the other hand a new entrant who impresses the most is Ravindra Vijay who plays the cop Muthu. He is a gifted natural actor and so is Anandsami as Selvarasan.
As for the family members who were seen in the last season as well, Priyamani has relatively lesser to do on screen this time around. After His Storyy, one expects to see in much meatier parts. In comparison, Ashlesha Thakur who plays her daughter has a good screen time and her attractive screen presence further helps. Ditto for Vedant Sinha who plays her brother and is good to watch each time around.
Both Sharad Kelkar and Darshan Kumar have a filler role when one would have expected more though Sunny Hinduja (as a fellow TASC officer), Vipin Sharma (As the PM’s Chief of Staff) and Devadarshini Chetan (as the female cop) have their moments. Uday Mahesh as Chellam, an ex-intelligence officer who is forever paranoid, is fun to watch and so is Late Asif Basra as the counselor of Manoj Bajpayee and Priyamani.
Overall, The Family Man 2 manages to take the franchise many notches hire with both Manoj Bajpayee and Samantha Akkineni breathing fire in this web series which has Raj & DK along with Suparn Verma splitting responsibilities as directors. With action promising moving to China in the third season, one waits to see how is the COVID 19 angle brought into play in this espionage thriller.