Renowned filmmaker Bharathiraja issued a statement on Tuesday seeking a ban on the Amazon Prime Video series The Family Man 2, for alleged misrepresentation of the Tamil Eelam fighters.
Bharathiraja said some of the scenes in the show conveyed that the series had been made by people who did not know the history of Tamil Eelam fighters. He shared a copy of his statement on Twitter, which read, “We are upset with the Indian government for not passing an order to stop the streaming of The Family Man Season 2, despite our request. The scenes in the show reveal that this series has been made by those who do not know the history of Tamil Eelam fighters. I condemn the show that insults the rebellion that was filled with good intentions, valour, and great sacrifices. I request Information and Broadcast Minister Prakash Javadekar to immediately stop the streaming of the show.”
Check out his tweet here:
“As we all know, this show continues to show people from Tamil, Muslim and Bengali communities in a bad light,” he added.
Bharathiraja also said that the Tamil community would boycott all business services related to Amazon if the series was not removed from their platform. He wrote, “Amazon Prime Video should stop the show voluntarily, if not Tamil people will boycott all business services of Amazon worldwide,” said Bharathiraja.
Bharathiraja’s statement comes a day after Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief Seeman too sought a ban of the series with a similar ultimatum. Seeman had said, “Stop Streaming #TheFamilyMan2 web series, else we Thamizhs all over the world may have to lead a Massive Campaign to Boycott all @amazon Services, including Prime Video (sic).”
The Family Man 2, which began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on June 4, stars Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani and Samantha Akkineni in the lead roles. The series has received a lot of praise from fans and critics.
The controversy began after people interpreted from the trailer that Samantha was playing the role of a leader from the LTTE, and also a “terrorist” in the series. Netizens hit out at the actress and said it was a misrepresentation of what the community had been formed for.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was a guerilla organisation that had sought a separate state in Sri Lanka for Tamil people due to the oppression and bloodshed that was constantly witnessed there.