Manoj Bajpayee’s ‘The Family Man’ Season 3 finally dropped yesterday, sending fans into a dedicated 7-hour binge. And here is an honest good, bad and ugly review of the series. We dissect the show for you, and tell you what we found good – what was bad and what was downright ugly. Overall, we would say the show was more good than bad – but conditions always apply.
The Family Man Season 3
- Length: 7 Episodes (just under 1 hour each)
- OTT Platform: Amazon Prime Video
- Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani, Sharib Hashmi, Gul Panag
Good, Bad and Ugly
The Good
Starting with the good, Family Man Season 3 delivers a fresh take on the conflicts that the country faces. Shifting focus to the northeast and the various battles being fought at multiple fronts is commendable. That, perhaps, is the best part about the season – moving away from the western frontier to the complex eastern frontiers.
The locales, the regional ‘tadka’ and the liberal use of regional dialect and languages is a welcome addition to the story.
Manoj Bajpayee is consistent but Sharib Hashmi shines in his role of JK. Darshan Kumar reprising his role of Captain Sameer sparkles in the few scenes. Jaideep Ahlawat is brilliant as always and plays the role of Rukma with panache, making him both hateable and likeable in different frames. Jugal Hansraj is far and few but it finally feels he found a role that suits him. As for Nimrat Kaur – she was good, bad and ugly in different scenes but overall sorted.
The other mainstays Priyamani as Suchitra Tiwari, Shreya Dhanwanthry as Zoya and Ashlesha Thakur and Vedant Sinha (Dhriti and Atharv) were consistent. As far as acting goes, actors deliver barring a few jarring inconsistencies, which is discussed in the ‘bad’.
The Bad
What stands out from the beginning, perhaps, is the pacing of the show. The first episode seems a bit dragged. The shows are just under an hour long but one might find them too long. The pace only picks up a few minutes before the episode ends – which works well for binge watching but can get bothersome.
The other bad, perhaps, was the predictability. We do not wish to give any spoilers, but it can be said that as the story progresses you would be able to easily guess who the mole is and who may be acting like one. The predictability of the story dampens the suspense and thrill from a spy drama. A bit of shock and awe factor always makes the stories so much more worth it. In that respect, The Family Man disappoints.
The Ugly
Seema Biswas’ character portrayal of Prime Minister Basu. The director has tried to add narcissism to the character profile and they fall flat. Whether it was a political satire or not is not the concern here. It’s the psychological profile and confusion of the character.
The PM seems both strong-headed and narcissistic but continues to easily accept suggestions made by her team. Wouldn’t a narcissistic person rather be more set in their ways rather than be swayed by anyone and everyone?
Also – but this could be only because I feel it as a woman, showing a weak female head of state does not bode well with me. How is it that the woman at the leadership position was being ‘guided’ by men and merely acting out at times. The fact remains that a woman who reaches that political might must have some grade of ruthlessness. PM Basu’s character, sadly, is a deplorable caricature of how men see women in this society. And that part, must be called out and rectified in Season 4.