Suman: 'The Family Man' is a fresh take on thrillers

Suman Kumar, the writer of ‘The Family Man’ series, admits that he was nervous ahead of the show’s first season. “The web series doesn’t stick to any tropes. It is a deviation from the regular template. So I was worried if people would be able to relate to it,” he says.

Today, the entire team of ‘The Family Man’ is basking in the glory of the show’s success. The second season of the espionage action thriller, directed by Raj & DK, opened to a thunderous response and enhanced the franchise’s reputation. “If you try to be honest, your work is always respected,” says Suman, who is an author and stand-up comedian.

The Bengaluru-based writer spoke to DH on the series’ inception, creating the famous characters and using humour as a major tool to drive the story. Excerpts:

From appreciative posts to hilarious memes, ‘The Family Man’ characters have taken social media by storm…

Yes. The biggest challenge was to keep the viewers interested in the characters and the overall drama. For that, as a writer, I had to understand all the characters. Otherwise, they become caricatures instead of being meaningful. So, a lot of research goes into the process. Usually, the glory rests with the central character but that’s not the case in ‘The Family Man’. That’s why you see Chellam sir become a big hit.

How did you come on board for ‘The Family Man’?

DK and I are childhood friends. We went to the same school in Chittoor. DK was good academically while I was barely interested in it (laughs). But the only thing that connected us was writing stories. We loved writing stories and exchanging ideas. He met Raj during his engineering days. They went to the US and the film bug bit them. They made a couple of short films before doing ‘Flavours’ (2003) which was praised. Then they decided to come back to India and make films. All the while, I wanted to quit my IT job and become a full-time writer. I was in touch with them. It was a tough call but I took the plunge into films. I did some work for their ‘A Gentleman’ (2017) and ‘Stree’ (2018). By the time ‘Stree’ became a blockbuster, I was on board for ‘The Family Man’.

What was the one-line synopsis of ‘The Family Man’ given to you?

Raj & DK always had the premise that what if an uncle or a middle-aged guy next door with kids was a spy. You think he is working in a government office or an insurance company but he is actually a spy. That way, we took the romance of the gadgets out of the equation. And we had to build a world around this idea. That’s how Srikant Tiwari fell into place and we started exploring the character. Then the fictional unit TASC was written.

Tell us more about your grip on humour.

I can find opportunities for humour while writing. It’s the same with Raj & DK. My stint with stand-up comedy helps, but above that, if you look at Raj & DK’s career, they have done a lot of comedy films. Their humour is organic. So many people have asked me how you can put a funny scene in the most serious of situations. We do it because it makes sense.

Pick scenes from the show to tell us how humour worked with this method.

In the first season, there is a scene when an upset Manoj Bajpayee gets into a fight with a man outside his son’s school. He is emotionally disturbed and vents his anger on that man. But when his son Atharv comes out, Bajpayee suddenly behaves as if nothing happened. He tells him that they were just playing, without even looking at that man. And that scene makes way for another comedy scene inside the car between Bajpayee and his son. Bajpayee asks him not tell about the incident to his mother. In return for the favour, his sons demands pizza and ice cream. So what began as a joke, turned out to be a good example of showcasing character trait.

Even in season 2, people loved the office humour. So many people told they want to do that to their bosses. The humour has permeated into the collective conscious of India. The UP police recently put up their helpline number on Twitter by using Chellam sir’s photo. The show has truly impressed people across the country.

The show tries not to obsess over action…

How long will you see heroes climbing walls and jumping from buildings? Of course, action and the thrill elements are great. We have them in ‘The Family Man’ as well. But we asked ourselves how are we going to stand out? How do we bring in a fresh perspective? That’s where humour and engaging drama play an important role. They are important parts of our team’s creative process. We showed that even if a hero doesn’t fall into the popular template, he will still be accepted.