Raj & DK, creators of Family Man 2 react to criticism over Samantha Akkineni’s ‘brown face’

Creators Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK have dismissed the criticism of painting actor Samantha Akkineni in brown face, in the recently released second season of Amazon Prime Video’s The Family Man. They said that every decision was made for the betterment of the character and that they are responsible filmmakers. In an interview, the director duo said that it isn’t like they got an actor of a different race to play Raji, the Sri Lankan Tamil rebel who takes on Manoj Bajpayee’s Srikant Tiwari in season two.

Raj told Film Companion, “This whole thing comes in the context of beauty, when you’re trying to say dark skin is not beautiful and fair skin is beautiful… This is not that context, number one. There is no context of skin beauty in this. We are all shades of brown. Now, the idea is that if each one is a shade of brown, so it’s not about getting a different race to play this (character). It’s not a race thing either. These are the two contexts where it should be looked down upon, and that’s where the main problem is. And we are well aware of it; it’s not like we are irresponsible filmmakers, to propagate something of that kind.”

 

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DK said, “In a way, it’s the character, right. And the character demanded that she had to be fit, because she’s a military person. And what did Samantha do for the role? She actually trained. For three months she did intense training and got these biceps. She learned martial arts from the choreographer and took classes, and that’s why the action is good. She learned this particular dialect of Tamil, which is not her usual Tamil. Now add to that the concept of hair, makeup and costume, that is the complete character that we are presenting. This is the character of Raji; she looks a certain way, she walks a certain way, and she’s a killing machine, and that’s all there is to it.”

Earlier, in an Instagram post, Samantha said that she took a ‘balanced, nuanced and sensitive approach to play Raji. “I was particular about Raji’s portrayal being balanced, nuanced, and sensitive. I want Raji’s story to be a stark, much-needed reminder for us, more than ever before, to come together as humans to fight hate, oppression, and greed. If we fail to do so, countless more will be denied their identity, liberty, and their right to self-determination,” the actor wrote. The Family Man, starring Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani, Samantha Akkineni and Sharib Hashmi among others is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Also Read: Manoj Bajpayee starrer The Family Man series renewed for Season 3; spoiler reveal in Season 2