I expected this juggling to be a lot more comical and endearing. In the first five episodes, The Family Man is committed to showing us Srikant Tiwary (Manoj Bajpayee) as he juggles being a 'family man' and also an underpaid government agent (he works for a special unit called TASC that tries to prevent terrorist activity). The series is set in Mumbai, and Raj and DK always provide a different view of the city with their hyper-local references. This can be confusing for the regular audience that has more choices than they need in terms of streaming content.

Joram: 5 reasons Manoj Bajpayee starrer survival-thriller promises to be a gripping-watch EXCLUSIVE | Manoj Bajpayee: 'Was once sitting at home and waiting for things to happen and then.'Īnd yet, despite so much going for it, I struggled to sit through The Family Man. It oscillates between being attention-grabbing and lifeless. It is a well shot series, smartly written and technically innovative in a lot of places (episode 6 has a 12-minute one-take shot in a hospital that is applause-worthy).

The Family Man has a stellar cast - Manoj Bajpayee, Sharib Hashmi, Dalip Tahil, Priyamani, Gul Panag, and a bunch of other familiar faces - all of whom really pull this series through its long run time (10 episodes of 50-odd minutes each). Despite mixed reactions to most of their work, they have a distinct flavour that invariably creeps into their storytelling.

There's A Gentleman, which I have no qualms in admitting I liked (what? It's a playful, decent watch). There's Go Goa Gone, which introduced Indians to a new kind of comedy, and is their best work according to me. There's Shor in the City, the quintessential underdog film - I can't find one person who hated it.

Raj and DK are always at the cusp of 'the' next big thing, except in the case of Stree, the sleeper hit of 2018 that they wrote, which is a bonafide success.

Family Man free