The Tamil Nadu government on 24 May, in a letter to the Centre, sought an immediate halt or ban on the release of Manoj Bajpayee's upcoming series The Family Man 2 set to release on Amazon Prime (on 4 June), citing a 'highly objectionable' portrayal of the Eelam Tamil.
Tamil Nadu Information Technology Minister T. Mano Thangaraj, in his letter to the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, said that the series not only hurt the feelings of the Tamil Eelam, it will also affect the people of Tamil Nadu.
"I would like to state that the above serial has not only hurt the sentiments of Eelam Tamils but also the feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu in large-scale and if allowed to broadcast, it would be prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony in the state," he said in the letter.
The trailer for the series premiered on 19 May starring Samantha Akkineni as the new villain, and Manoj Bajpayee in a reprisal of his role as a National Investigation Agency (NIA) official. Thangaraj said that the trailer was aimed at discrediting and distorting the historical struggle of the Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka and claimed that the serial had 'condemnable, inappropriate and malicious content'.
He alleged that the serial intentionally disregards the sacrifices in the democratic battle, and the show can't be considered to be a serial with value for Tamil culture, by any stretch of imagination. "A serial loaded with insults and insinuations against the glorious Tamil culture could never be considered as the one having any broadcasting value," he condemned.
"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," he added.
"While our brethren Eelam Tamils are struggling for decades to enjoy the fruits of equality, justice, peace and dignity in the island nation, it is highly unwarranted for an organisation like Amazon Prime to undertake this kind of a smear campaign against the Tamils who are builder of India as well as many nations across the globe," he further said.
Samantha plays the role of a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel in the 9-part series The Family Man 2. After the trailer's release, many on social media criticised it for the portrayal of her character, and led to the trend #Familyman2_against_tamils.
The first call to ban the show came from Tamil Nationalist and Naam Tamizhar Katchi chief S Seeman whose party was the third most popular after DMK and AIADMK in the 2021 polls. Warning the makers of 'dire consequences', he said in a statement, "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 consequence."
On 23 May, MDMK leader Vaiko made a similar plea to Javadekar and alleged that the show portrays the Tamil people in a negative light, 'as terrorists and ISI Agents and having link with Pakistan'.
“These descriptions have hurt the sentiments of Tamil people and Tamil culture and offensive against the Tamil community. The people of Tamil Nadu are raising serious objections over such act and are protesting against the Serial", the letter read.
The Family Man 2 makers Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, addressed the allegation in a statement that read, "Some assumptions and impressions have been made based on just a couple of shots in the trailer. Many of our lead cast members, as well as key members of the creative & writing team, are Tamilians. We are very cognizant of the sentiments of the Tamil people and Tamil culture and have nothing but the utmost love and respect towards our Tamil people."
It further added that the makers have put in hard work to present a 'sensitive, balanced, and riveting story'.
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