Suparn
Varma,
who
co-directed
The
Family
Man
2,
says
controversies
around
Amazon
Prime
Video
shows
Tandav
and
Mirzapur
worried
them
and
there
were
concerns
about
how
the
show
would
be
received
by
the
audiences.
Created
by
Raj
Nidimoru
and
Krishna
DK,
The
Family
Man
2
started
streaming
on
Amazon
Prime
from
June
4.
The
show
has
been
received
well
by
both
the
critics
as
well
as
viewers.
Fronted
by
Manoj
Bajpayee,
the
series
was
scheduled
to
return
in
February
this
year
but
had
to
be
postponed
following
the
controversy
over
Tandav.
Saif
Ali
Khan-starrer
Tandav
was
embroiled
in
a
huge
controversy
in
January
after
the
show's
makers
were
accused
of
hurting
religious
sentiments,
leading
to
multiple
FIRs
being
filed
against
them.
"What
happened
with
Tandav
worried
us.
It
is
in
general
a
worrisome
development,
not
just
us
but
every
show
that
you
are
doing.
It
also
makes
you
question
what
is
going
to
offend
who
and
you
have
no
idea
because
anybody
can
get
offended," Varma
said.
"We
did
look
at
our
show,
we
were
cognisant
of
what
we
were
doing,
we
didn't
do
it
for
effect,
it
was
integral
to
the
show.
But
there
was
a
worry
how
it
would
blow
up,"
he
added.
Varma
was
speaking
at
an
online
conversation
with
media
and
fans
on
FLYX’s
Bakstage,
an
audio-based
social
networking
app,
on
Thursday
night.
"We
are
not
writing
to
create
controversy.
That’s
the
last
thing
we
want.
We
want
the
show
to
release
peacefully
and
viewers
to
enjoy
it,"
the
46-year-old
writer-director
said.
Despite
the
delay,
the
second
season
of
The
Family
Man
had
a
not-so-smooth
debut
as
there
were
calls
in
Tamil
Nadu
for
the
show's
boycott
due
to
its
alleged
portrayal
of
Eelam
Tamils.
In
the
new
season,
Bajpayee's
Srikant
Tiwari
is
pitted
against
a
new
and
powerful
adversary,
Raji,
a
Sri
Lankan
Tamil
liberation
fighter,
played
by
South
star
Samantha
Akkineni.
"We
were
in
Mumbai,
Samantha
was
in
Hyderabad
and
our
interest
was
to
safeguard
her.
"Luckily
when
most
of
the
people
saw
the
show,
they
kept
quiet.
There
is
some
noise
but
it
is
not
serious.
People
know
we
are
not
demeaning
anyone.
Also
the
love
Raji’s
character
has
got,
it
has
almost
silenced
everyone,"
Varma
said.
After
the
season
two
trailer
was
unveiled,
some
people
had
also
raised
objections
over
the
darkened
skin
colour
of
Akkineni's
character.
However,
Varma,
who
previously
directed
Bipasha
Basu’s
2013
film
Aatma
and
served
as
a
writer
on
Ajay
Devgn
and
Abhishek
Bachchan’s
2003
Zameen,
said
there
was
a
reason
behind
the
move.
"Our
reason
is
very
simple.
It
is
not
a
beautification
issue
where
we
wanted
dark
skin
actress
or
whatever.
We
wanted
the
best
Tamil
speaking
actress
and
Samantha
is
the
national
treasure.
The
kind
of
performance
she
has
done
should
silence
anybody
asking
why
not
someone
else.
The
skin
tone
was
done
for
a
simple
reason.
When
you
are
living
in
a
jungle
literally
picked
up
from
school,
being
tortured,
thrown
in
war
camps
and
becoming
a
guerrilla
warrior
in
the
hot
baked
sun
of
Sri
Lanka,
then
you
will
have
a
certain
skin
tone,"
he
said.
One
of
the
reasons
why
the
makers
decided
to
set
the
show's
second
season
in
Chennai
was
to
highlight
the
issue
of
Tamil
Eelams
and
how
the
young
audience
is
unaware
about
their
cause,
Varma
said.
"It
is
unfortunate
in
our
country...
the
South
in
a
way
or
even
Mizoram
or
Nagaland
are
integral
parts
of
our
country
but
we
focus
more
on
Delhi,
Mumbai,
Bangalore
or
Kolkata.
Beyond
that,
we
don’t
go
in.
These
societies
are
very
inflated
and
isolated,
Tamil
culture
is
so
rich,"
he
added.
Varma
was
not
involved
with
season
one
of
The
Family
Man
but
when
Nidimoru
and
DK
approached
him
for
the
sophomore
part,
he
grabbed
the
opportunity.
He
said
there
was
a
pressure
on
him
to
not
let
the
creators
of
the
show
down.
"My
pressure
began
in
a
different
way
that
Raj
and
DK
are
my
dear
friends
and
I
couldn’t
s****
up
their
baby
and
I
had
to
step
up
500
per
cent
to
ensure
that
season
two
made
them
proud.
So
my
pressure
was
not
from
audience
expectations,"
Varma
said.