You might feel deja vu from Paatal Lok, also a Prime Video series, after taking in the picturesque Northeast, but that feeling doesn't stay for long. The Family Man 3, inarguably a technically superior chapter, but the weakest one, traverses the entire Northeast with Nagaland seeing the most action.
The splendid one-take opening shot of the new season, directed by Suman Kumar and Tusshar Seyth, is a cracker of a beginning to a chapter that was much awaited.
A group of Naga people is performing a traditional dance at a ground and we see the camera move to the stage to give us a fly-on-the-wall type perspective, almost eavesdropping on the conversation between a revered Naga leader David Khuzou who has convinced rebel groups in the Northeast to sign a peace accord with the Indian government promising them "jobs, infrastructure, and education".
You see some movement in the stands, and you know what's coming next. The Northeast is on the boil, blame China for it. Prime Minister Basu (Seema Biswas) is back and this time, she is desperate to shake off her 'Buzdil Basu' image by taking tough calls, even if it means sending the Indian Army to another country to send a message. She also wants her Project Sahakar, a development programme for the region, to become a success and, thus, her legacy.
The familiarity of the show still works even though at seven episodes ranging between 50-54 minutes, the show feels stretched. The sassy Srikant Tiwari is back, and so is his deadpan, bewildered expression that we have come to love as he struggles to balance his upended family life with his high-stakes national security job.
You crack up over the "vibe check" attempts by an always dependable Manoj Bajpayee's Srikant to get along with his teenaged children: Dhriti is the new-age woke college-going young woman, trying to be sensitive to the changing world while battling her anxiety issues, and Atharv is gleefully lost in his own world, dancing to ballet, as he navigates bullying at school.
Suchitra (an effective Priyamani) has become a full-fledged career woman and thanks to her, the Tiwari family has moved into a swanky apartment in Mumbai. The gulf between Srikant and Suchitra has only deepened over the two seasons, but they check-in on each other from time to time like old pals who are in a love-hate relationship.
With Srikant's reality as a spy out in the open and danger looming large, the ice between the longtime couple seems to thaw during the course of the series.
There are new players in Jugal Hansraj's Indian businessman but a UK citizen Dwarkanath who is playing for both The Collective and the Indian government, Nimrat Kaur's suited-booted troubleshooter (wo)manfriday, and Jaideep Ahlawat's drug smuggler Rukma.
Major Sameer (Darshan Kumaar) is back and helps Meera get in touch with Rukma who starts shaking up things for Srikant, his TASC team, and the Indian government. Meera is portrayed as this uber smart tough cookie but we don't know how this fixer is left as a sitting duck and that too so easily.
With geopolitics being The Family Man's roots, we see Basu's government announce a ban on Chinese apps.
Soon, things get personal for Srikant and Rukma who are trying to find out who is responsible for making their lives upside down. In his quest to uncover the truth and reveal the (many) rats in the system, Srikant only trusts his A-team, and we see Gul Panag's Saloni from the Indian Army's counter-insurgency unit back in action.
What doesn't work for The Family Man 3 is the too much back and forth of the screenplay, by series creators Raj & DK and director Suman Kumar. It may get difficult for the viewers to keep a track of what all is going down, where and when.
As one of the many returning regulars, Sharib Hashmi is excellent as JK, Srikant's trustworthy BFF. Good to see him getting a good screen time as the makers show us his personal life struggles that never top the real issue - protecting the country. Shreya Dhanwanthary's Zoya Ali, the TASC analyst, is reinstated in the force and the actor powers through with a subtle performance.
Getting the famous father and son duo (Jaideep Ahlawat's Shahid Khan and Manoj Bajpayee's Sardar Khan) from Gangs of Wasseypur together on screen for the first time was a casting coup. There were great expectations, but the face-off between Srikant and Rukma was tepid.
It could have been one of those remarkable moments on Indian screen where would have seen two powerhouse performers, Manoj Bajpayee and Jaideep Ahlawat, feed off of each other. It could have come quite close to the one between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat. But alas.
Jaideep Ahlawat (back in the Northeast after Paatal Lok) is pitch perfect as the Nagamese speaking ex-soldier who is a criminal with scruples, and is, eventually, a softie. In the Northeast, he's that outsider who commands respect as the benefactor of the locals who despise the mainlanders.
There are cameos from within The Family Man universe and the one special appearance that everyone already knew about. It was great to see someone give Srikant the taste of his own medicine in sass and expletives.
In a series that made an intelligence agent out of a seemingly ordinary-looking man, a more believable antithesis to the macho and larger-than-life spies in our films, a scene with Dhriti, Atharv, and JK about how being a real hero is not about being an "alpha" but about being responsible is quite telling.
There's definitely a fourth season on the horizon, with at least Jaideep Ahlawat, in the newer lot of cast members, set to return. And, however, battered, bruised, and exhausted Srikant may be, there can't be another chapter without 'The Original Family Man'.
Also Read | Family Man 3 Star Manoj Bajpayee Jokes About Having Bone Problems Because Of Anurag Kashyap's "Buri Nazar"
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Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani, Sharib Hashmi, Jaideep Ahlawat, Nimrat Kaur, Shreya Dhanwanthary.
