Hyderabad: South star Samantha Akkineni says she was particular about playing her The Family Man 2 character Raji with a "balanced, nuanced and sensitive" approach. Akkineni, best known for her roles in Eega, Mahanati, Mersal, Anjaan", makes her debut in the digital space with the series from filmmaker duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK.
The second season of the Amazon Prime Video series, which premiered on Friday, has actor Manoj Bajpayee's Srikant Tiwari pitted against a new and powerful adversary, Raji, a Sri Lankan Tamil liberation fighter.
In a lengthy Instagram post, the actor charted her journey with Raji, a character which she said serves as a much-needed reminder to come together as a society to eradicate "hate, oppression and greed".
"I was particular about Raji's portrayal being balanced, nuanced, and sensitive. I want Raji's story to be a stark, much-needed reminder for us, more than ever before, to come together as humans to fight hate, oppression, and greed. If we fail to do so, countless more will be denied their identity, liberty, and their right to self-determination," the actor wrote.
Akkineni, 34, said her preparation for Raji involved watching documentaries about the Tamil struggle and she was devastated to see the suffering of Tamils of Eelam, especially women. "The creative team shared documentaries of the Tamil struggle that included stories of women in the Eelam war. When I watched those documentaries, I was aghast and shocked by the troubles and unspeakable grief that the Tamils of Eelam went through over an extended period of time," the actor wrote.