A couple of days ago there were reports that Samantha Akkineni would be playing a suicide bomber in the second season of the Amazon Prime Video show 'The Family Man 2'. Following this report, a number of protests began calling for a ban on the show since it hurt the sentiments of the Eelam Tamils and also the people of Tamil Nadu. In fact, the Tamil Nadu had even written to Union minister for Information and Broadcasting to immediately ban or stop the screening of the OTT show.
While the protests continue, it is learnt that Amazon Prime Video has issued a gag order to Samantha barring her from speaking about the show. “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”, says a trade source commenting on the issue. Talking about the gag order, “Amazon Prime Video said that they would like to avoid controversies prior to the release of their venture.
Interestingly, Samantha in an interview had expressed her elation to being part of show. “I am just lucky to be here and be a part of the show because that is the only thing anyone is asking me back home. ‘When is the family man releasing?’ I am truly honoured to be a part of this team and be a part of this show and in a dream role”, the actress had sated. On the other hand the directors of the show had stated that when developing the script, they were very cognisant of the sentiments of the Tamil people and Tamil culture. In fact, the duo even requested people to watch the show when it releases before making assumption on characters in it.
