Amazon Prime Video has done it again! The streaming giant released the hotly anticipated spy thriller The Family Man season 2 on the night of 3rd June. And what do you know, Amazon Prime Video failed to release the Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions of the show. Just like it did at the time of the release of Mirzapur, Paatal Lok, Tandav, Panchayat, and scores of other Amazon Original shows in Hindi. And just like always, Tamil and Telugu viewers are in an uproar over the absence of Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions of The Family Man Season 2.
But a funny thing has happened this time around. For, along with Tamil and Telugu audiences, even Hindi audiences are irked with Amazon Prime Video and its streaming of The Family Man 2. Why is it so, one may wonder.
The answer lies in the fact that a huge portion of The Family Man Season 2 features dialogues spoken in Tamil. A conservative estimate would put it at 30% Tamil content, and if one were to take a more liberal view of it, almost 60% of the dialogue in crucial episodes is in the Tamil language. To add to it, around 25% of the dialogue is spoken in English. That leaves only around 20-40% dialogue that is in Hindi.
As a result of this anomaly, Hindi-speaking audiences are facing a lot of trouble in understanding The Family Man 2 with all its nuances. Of course, the series does have English subtitles to aid viewers of every language to understand the show. But not all Hindi-speaking viewers can even read English fluently – especially in the older age group.
A number of Hindi viewers have therfore vented on social media, demanding that Amazon Prime Video release a completely Hindi-dubbed version of The Family Season Man 2, wherein the considerable Tamil dialogues are dubbed in Hindi for the benefit of Hindi audiences.
Dubbed versions of its shows is one area Amazon Prime Video is always grossly lacking in. The other two leading OTT platforms, Netflix and Disney Plus Hotstar, always make it a point to release their premium shows in multiple languages. Disney Plus Hotstar even goes as far as to stream each of its shows in 7 versions – one in the original audio, and six, in dubbed versions of popular Indian languages.
But not Amazon Prime Video. The platform has never launched ANY of its shows in multiple languages EVER. Whether it is hot and buzzing shows such as Mirzapur and Tandav, or new releases such as Paatal Lok and Panchayat. Each time, Amazon Prime Video has released Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions of its shows at least a month and more, after the launch of the original Hindi version. And that too after constant pestering on social media by the numerous regional viewers who have been waiting desperately to watch their preferred shows in their preferred languages.
This time, it is the Hindi-speaking audiences that are irked the most. It is but a matter of time before Amazon Prime Video releases the Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions of The Family Man 2 – a week or two, at the most. But it’s obvious that there will not be any version of The Family Man 2 where the Tamil dialogues will be dubbed in Hindi. Hindi audiences have been handed the shorter end of the stick. With no solution to THAT problem.