Samantha Akkineni breaks silence on 'The Family Man 2' controversy, pens strong note

The Family Man 2 has attracted controversy since the release of the trailer. While the makers and numerous members of the cast issued statements, the one majorly involved in it, Samantha Akkineni, who played a controversial character seemingly linked to LTTE, had maintained silence. As the series opened to rave reviews on Friday, the actor broke her silence and stated that the story of her character was a tribute to the lives lost in the Eelam War.

Samantha Akkineni on The Family Man 2

In her first statement on Instagram handle since sharing the trailer two weeks, Samantha wrote that her heart was filled with ‘so much joy’ as she read the reviews and comments. The actor stated that her character Raji will ‘always be special’.

When the trailer had released, a section was angry over her character, allegedly linked to the LTTE, that had fought the decades-long Sri Lankan civil war, being shown as being connected to a 'terrorist group'. They had termed it as being 'against Tamils' and politicians like Member of Parliament Vaiko had sought a ban for showing Tamil community in poor light. 

Posting a photo with Raj and DK, she shared that when the writer-director duo approached her for the character, she realised that it needed 'sensitivity and balance.' The Eega star stated that she was ‘aghast and shocked’ when she watched the documentaries of women in the Eelam war, and the ‘unspeakable grief’ that Tamils of Eelam went through ‘over an extended period of time.’ With the videos reaching only a limited audience with only a ‘few thousand views’, Samantha wrote that it dawned on her that ‘world looked away’ when ‘thousands of people of Eelam lost their lives,’ and ‘lakhs lost their livelihood and homes’ and many still continued to live in ‘far away lands’ with the ‘wounds’ of the civil war still 'fresh in their hearts and minds.'

The 34-year-old wrote that the story of Raji might be fictional, but it was a tribute to those ‘that died because of an unequal war, and those who continue to live in the painful memory of the war.’ She stated that she was particular about the character being ‘balanced, nuanced and sensitive’.

She wrote that she wanted the character to be a 'stark, much-needed reminder' that people needed to 'come together as humans to fight hate, oppression, and greed'. Samantha said that failure to do so would lead to 'countless more' being 'denied their identity, liberty, and their right to self-determination.'

The Family Man 2 consists of  9 episodes which have all been streaming on Amazon Prime since Friday. The series stars Manoj Bajpayee in the lead in the role of an intelligence officer. The series also stars Sharib Hashmi, Priyamani, Sharad Kelkar, among others.