As we eagerly await the release of the second season of the exceptionally popular television show ‘The Family Man’, which is set to stream on the Amazon Prime Video platform from June 4, 2021, onwards, we have spotted a few interesting connections with another acclaimed spy-thriller show ‘Special Ops’.
Besides obviously both of them being well-executed spy-thrillers that also touch upon the work-life balance aspect of intelligence agents, the first apparent connection is in the rough pattern in which both these shows have been directed. Unlike the first season where Raj & DK had directed all the episodes of the show, the directorial duties for the second season of ‘The Family Man’ have been divided amongst Raj & DK and Suparn Verma. Because for the second season, Raj & DK have directed four episodes while Suparn Verma has directed five episodes of the upcoming season of ‘The Family Man’.
In a more or less similar fashion, ‘Special Ops’ was directed by dynamic filmmaker Neeraj Pandey (Director – ‘Special 26’, ‘A Wednesday’) and Shivam Nair (who had earlier directed Baby’s spinoff film ‘Naam Shabana’ starring Manoj Bajpayee and Taapsee Pannu). While the first episode of the series was directed by both Neeraj Pandey and Shivam Nair, the remaining seven episodes were individually directed by them in an alternate manner.
The second connection is the casting of ‘Tanhaji’ actor Sharad Kelkar in both these shows. In ‘Special Ops’, he played a small but impactful role of a senior police officer Surya Kumar. While in ‘The Family Man’, he played the role of a ‘friend’ and colleague of Srikant Tiwari’s (Manoj Bajpayee) wife Priyamani. Both these roles were poles apart, nevertheless, well performed by the versatile actor.
The third and a crucial connection between ‘The Family Man’ second season and ‘Special Ops’ is that both these shows apparently feature a suicide bomber in important roles. While the finale of ‘Special Ops’ featured a sister-duo suicide bomber (one of them played by Divya Dutta). And the role played by accomplished actress Samantha Akkineni in the upcoming season of ‘The Family Man’ is ostensibly said to be that of a suicide bomber (to be confirmed when the show arrives).
And finally, how can we forget to mention the most endearing connection between these shows. That is the sizzling chemistry between Manoj Bajpayee & Priyamani in ‘The Family Man’ (prominently visible in S2 trailer) and between Kay Kay Menon and Gautami Kapoor in ‘Special Ops’. While the ultra-realistic and incredibly relatable marital discord and domestic banters shown in ‘The Family Man’ might get more screen time. Nevertheless, the day-to-day camaraderie of a regular middle-aged couple in ‘Special Ops’ was equally effective.
Because in ‘Special Ops’ too, the two actors get some of the most endearing scenes together especially in the last episode where Kay Kay Menon’s character thanks his wife (played by Gautami Kapoor) for being the only one to have persistently trusted his gut feeling for 19 years. It was heart-warming.
While the release of the second season of ‘The Family Man’ is just a few days away, Neeraj Pandey had also previously apprised us about ‘Special Ops 1.5’, which would take the audience back in time to witness the incident that shaped the protagonist’s character Himmat Singh.