BOMBAY TIMES (June 4, 2021)

After a two-year-long wait, the much-awaited new season of The Family Man has launched on Amazon Prime Video today. In a fun conversation with the not so ‘minimum guy’ himself, Manoj Bajpayee talks about what viewers can expect from the new season:

Fans are thrilled to watch you play Srikant Tiwari once again. What is it about this character that appeals to you the most?
In my journey as an actor, in the last 26 years, I have always preferred roles that portray me as a common man. Srikant Tiwari deglamorises the whole spy trope. He is an undercover agent who calls himself the James Bond of Chembur. For the world, his family included, he is a regular government employee — a common guy who worries about home loans, electricity bills and EMIs, and at the same time, is struggling to be a good husband and father.

What will be different in this season and what can fans expect from Srikant?
The new season is in a new zone altogether. It is definitely bigger and better. Srikant’s life has changed a lot and you will see him spending a lot more time with his family. He is not sure about the new changes and doesn’t know if his decision is right or wrong, so his conflicts and adjustments are something that the audiences will get to see and will relate to. They will also find answers to a lot of questions raised in the last season. Also, there is a new mission to save the country and a lot of action, drama and exciting twists and turns in store for our viewers.

You are known for your nuanced acting skills, which make your characters more relatable. How do you manage to make Srikant so relatable?
What helped me in making Srikant more relatable is drawing references from my own life as a husband and father, and also, from my friends’ marital life experiences. Of course, there are backstories and interpretations from my real-life interactions as well, which I tend to imbibe. These help me refine my character.

How was your experience of working with Priyamani and Samantha Akkineni?
Priyamani surprises me all the time. Not only is she a fantastic actor, but she is also a great learner and is very openminded. Samantha is dedicated and hardworking and I have huge respect and admiration for her. In fact, when I saw some raw footage of her scenes, I got really nervous seeing how amazing she was.