The Family Man season 2 brought with it a lot of thrill, excitement and drama for the viewers. The show has been pronounced a hit by fans and critics alike and rightly so. A new threat to national security, a new setting and also some new characters mark the second season of the spy web series The Family Man. Adding to this fresh wave are the women characters in The Family Man season 2 that are not necessarily likeable but play significant and true to life roles in the series.

Suchi

Suchi or Suchitra is the wife of Srikant played by Priyamani. Picking on her character from season 1, she is mostly seen in a disturbed state of mind in The Family Man 2 because of a certain ‘truth’ that she is hiding from her husband. She is the kind of woman who isn’t suppressed by gender roles and has dreams for herself. Her job is as important as her spy husband’s and while we see Srikant juggling between work and family, we also see Suchi doing the same. After being in an empty marriage for a long time, Suchi finds companionship elsewhere. However, we are not told clearly if Suchi cheats on Srikant or not. The internet is shunning her and pushing her into the ‘club of the most hated women in media’ which includes characters like Hannah Kahnwald from Dark, Tokyo from Money Heist and the likes. I wonder how different the response would have been if Srikant had cheated on Suchi and not the other way round.

Raji

Raji or Rajalakshmi Sekaran is the main villain of the show portraying the role of a highly trained Tamil Lankan rebel. Tamil and Telugu actress Samantha Akkineni was roped in to play this role. Hailing from the Sri Lankan city of Jaffna, Raji loses her brother and father at a young age in attacks by the Sri Lankan government against the Tamil community living there. Carrying the grief of all the loved ones that she has lost; she wants revenge from the Lankan government and its allies. The best fighter pilot of her guerrilla group, the strong-headed Raji is ready to pay any price for the completion of her mission and stays true to her cause till the end. Samantha Akkineni performed all her stunts in The Family Man season 2 on her own and trained rigorously for them.

Inspector Umayal

It felt great to see women playing the hard, on-field roles in The Family Man season 2 which are majorly attributed to men. Played by Tamil actor Devadarshini, Umayal is the police inspector from Chennai who joins TASC in its investigation of the Tamil Lankan rebels two days after investigating the case of Raji’s boss’s disappearance. She is adept, quick and has nerves of steel. JK’s subtle flirting with her keeps the humour quotient of the show up. It is because of her thinking on her feet that TASC is able to catch Raji after a chase outside Jebaraj’s house.

PM Basu

Seema Biswas plays the role of the Indian Prime Minister Basu in The Family Man season 2. The ‘Bandit Queen’ actor portrays a strong-willed politician who doesn’t like to be cornered. The shrewd PM uses the death of a Sri Lankan rebel fugitive to further her political motives and establish stronger ties with Sri Lanka. She even treads in the face of danger by travelling to the unwelcoming Chennai for bilateral talks with the Sri Lankan president. The viewers of the show were quick to point out her character’s similarities with that of West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee. In addition to ethnic and linguistic similarities, Basu refers to herself in third person just like Banerjee.