Before ‘The Family Man 2’ we never were the sequel kind of people: Raj and DK
The second season of their popular web series The Family Man sure marks a first for the filmmaker duo of Raj and DK.
“We have not been the ‘sequel kind of people’ until now. The Family Man season 2 is literally the first time that we are continuing something from where we stopped. We will have to get around to doing more sequels soon, I suppose,” says Krishna DK, who prefers going by the name DK in the professional circuit, about co-helming the extension of a story on screen for the first time.
The second season of their 2019 espionage action thriller series premieres on June 4. Manoj Bajpayee returns in the starring role of NIA agent Srikant Tiwari, along with Priyamani, Sharib Hashmi, Sharad Kelkar, Sunny Hinduja and Shreya Dhanwanthary in pivotal roles.
The casting that particularly seems to excite Raj and DK is of South actress Samantha star, who makes her digital debut as antagonist in the new season. She plays a terrorist named Raji.
“Samantha brings a whole new flavour to The Family Man because she is playing something she has never played before, a completely 180-degree contrast to what she has done earlier. She brings in a very power-packed female character that is way stronger than people would think. She brings in a really strong punch to the story,” says Raj Nidimoru about the season’s highlight casting.
He adds that there wasn’t much scope to monitor season one’s reception in order to change the new season. “We had started shooting and writing (season two) even before season one came out. So, we didn’t have to worry about writing it based on response. We were fine except maybe like a five per cent tweak,” Raj reveals.
While not much is being revealed about the story of the second season, Raj and DK, who hail from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, tell you the setting is a region they are “kind of familiar with”.
“Season two is more personal and a lot more intense. Season two is also kind of closer to heart because the focus shifts to a region we are kind of familiar with,” Raj says.
The setting and the storyline will usher novelty but the director duo have ensured the tone of the show remains the same. “The tone and intention of season one is true to season two — essentially, that is the spirit of the show. It’s just that because the story moves to a different region of India, the realities of that region come to light. The various elements including the politics of the region, comes to light,” DK says of the show, which returns on Amazon Prime.
Will there be more seasons of the series after the second? “We have lots of stories (for more seasons) but it is up to the platform, up to Amazon, to figure when and what to do,” Raj grins.
For now, their immediate focus after the launch of season two of the series is their pending projects. There is a series coming up with Shahid Kapoor, plus a couple of film assignments.
“We have a couple of films we were planning to do before the pandemic hit, so now we are trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how, when and all that stuff,” Raj sums up.
