The Family Man: Manoj Bajpayee is in extraordinary form

The Family Man is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Directed by the maverick duo of Raj and DK, the 10-episode series starring Manoj Bajpayee as the middle-class protagonist is partly an action thriller, and partly a family drama. The series is the OTT platform’s attempt at delivering a first-rate fiction offering for its subscribers. Despite having its share of minor flaws, it is, on the whole, a binge-worthy product that the subscribers will enjoy thoroughly.

The accomplished Bajpayee is seen in the role of Srikant Tiwari, an underpaid married government employee with two children. He is fighting a daily war to strike a balance between his personal and professional life. Tiwari has predictable middle-class concerns such as buying a flat in an expensive city like Mumbai. His elder child, a daughter, gets into trouble in school. He has to meet the school principal but he is unable to complete his conversation with her because work beckons. He, in short, fails to play his role of a father which his Tamil wife Suchi (Priyamani) resents.

There isn’t much Srikant can do to change the state of affairs though. The other half of his life makes serious demands since he works as an agent of the fictitious Threat Analysis and Surveillance Cell (TASC), which reports to the counter-terrorism agency, National Investigation Agency, which is known to exist in reality. He is expected to identify and predict the moves of terrorists, a tough job which forces him to leave and get back home at odd hours.

He and his wife have an uneasy relationship, which is complicated further by the latter’s decision to leave her job of teaching to take up the challenges of working in a start-up venture. In the middle of leading a middle-class life, there is an episode involving young suspected terrorists. Something goes wrong. To know what happened, and a lot more, you must watch the series.

Just how good is The Family Man? Inspired by daily news stories, the series has a very well-written plot that evolves gradually and keeps the viewer interested. Remarkable is how the two genres - family drama and action thriller – merge and take the story forward.

The series hinges on Bajpayee in the title role, and the actor is simply magnificent. As Tiwari, he makes every moment seem astonishingly real. How he talks when he is drunk; the way in which he has a quick breakfast on the roadside; how he responds to the interrogation by bureaucrats; his interaction with his wife and kids: Bajpayee makes us watch these moments and marvel at his unquestionable talent.

The Family Man has other noteworthy performances, among them those of Kishore Kumar G. As Pasha, Sharib Hashmi as J K Talpade and Priyamani as his wife Suchi. Dalip Tahil as the boss is effective in his brief appearance. What makes the series eminently watchable is the appropriate casting of unknown faces in minor roles. Each one of them seems tailor-made for their respective characters, enhancing the series’ appeal even further.