“Why Would We Show Tamilians In A Bad Light?” Argues Raj Nidimoru

Raj Nidimoru, one-half  of the Raj-DK directorial debut who is half-Tamilian, is baffled  by the  unfounded backlash against The  Family Man Season 2.

“A large  number of  the  unit members  for  Family Season 2 are Tamil. Samantha  Akkineni who plays  the Tamilian character  considers  Tamil Nadu to be  her  home. I am  half-Tamil. Other actors and technicians on  the show are  also  from Tamil Nadu.  Plus, we are all responsible  citizens  supremely sensitive  to the politics  and culture of Tamil Nadu.Why would we  show Tamilians  in a bad  light?” wonders Raj in response  to  the  growing protest against  the streaming of  the series  from June 4.

The latest to join the clamour for a  ban is  Rajya Sabha member Vaiko who has written to the Information  & Broadcasting minister  Prakash  Javadekar  asking for a ban on the series.

Curiously the letter refers  to Samantha as “Samandha” and accuses the  series of  “depicting  Tamilians  as  terrorists  and ISI agents  and having link(sic.) with  Pakistan.”

There is  no terrorist outfit  called the ISI. What is probably alluded  to  is ISIS.

From the trailer, Samantha’s character  is  also being trolled for her skin being painted black.

 Protests Raj Nidimoru, “Painting black is racist. Samantha plays a woman who spends a lot of   time in the heat  of the sun. Her skin  is tanned because her character  is exposed extensively to the sun.She is  in  character , and there are  no racial slurs, no references  to any  terrorist organizations. Just as Manoj Bajpai’s  character has  an agenda, Samantha’s character too  has an agenda.  Judge her character  after seeing the series, not on  the basis  of the trailer.”