The Family Man isn’t like any other spy show. Yes, there are terrorists, investigation and violence but there is also a wife, kids and grocery shopping. This is what makes the show different from any other spy show or movie. While one half of the show focuses on the hunt of the terrorists, the other half focuses on the life of Srikant’s family.

Suchi is Srikant’s wife who works in a college as a psychology professor and eventually dares to leave her secure job to work in a start-up. Dhriti is his daughter who is hooked to her phone most of the time and has her own entanglements with boys and other teenage stuff. Atharv, his son and the youngest member in the family is naïve and playful and has a keen interest in playing different instruments. No one in Srikant’s family is aware of the nature of his job. They are under the perception that he has a regular desk job at a government office.

So, how does the family fare in the family man?

Like any other family, this family is not without its differences. Suchi often complains to Srikant about the amount of time he spends with them. Dhriti is suspended from school because of Srikant’s absence, he forgets to pick the kids from school, often cuts Suchi’s call in between to attend to some emergency. In short, his job makes it difficult to devote time to his family. This issue is also addressed in the show in Srikant’s conversations with his friend, JK and his boss, Kulkarni. However, Srikant makes amends with Dhriti’s school’s principal and makes her revoke Dhriti’s suspension. We see Srikant frequently alternating between his role as a spy and as a family man. He is home early for his son’s birthday party but also leaves the moment a red alert about the terrorists is sent to him.

This show depicts an idea of family which is extremely relatable. Indian television and movies have, for long, painted a picture of how an ideal family should be which is very far-fetched. The family in The Family Man doesn’t fit this ideal. It isn’t governed by society’s gender roles. Suchi and Srikant share equal responsibility for the kids, however, Srikant often falls short in fulfilling his part. All the members have a life beyond each other. We rarely see the four of them sitting together for something as simple as dinner. However, we often see Srikant being jealous of the time that Suchi and the kids spend together.

Towards the end of the show, we see this family falling apart because of the strained relationship of the parents- Srikant and Suchi. After a point, it feels that they are only in the marriage because of their kids. This also affects their kids as they worry about their parents. Although the family is going through troubled waters, the show makes the viewers root for them to fix all their problems and stick together in the end. 

All in all, you will end up relating to the family as the makers haven’t gone over-the-top with their representation. Be it Srikant’s story about the number of bridges he crossed to reach school in his time or Suchi’s classic ‘mom scolding’, you will find traces of your own family in the Tiwari family.