‘The Family Man’ season 3 review: Raj & DK's diminishing returns

This would matter less if season 3 was as funny and gripping as previous editions. But this is a laboured season, hazily conceived and sorely missing the usual screwball energies of creators Raj & DK, who, after Citadel: Honey Bunny and this, are inarguably slumping. Here, they’re billed as co-writers (with Suman Kumar, Nikhil Gonsalves and Sumit Arora) and co-directors (with Kumar and Tusshar Seyth) on all the episodes. Yet, if you told me they’d only been cursorily involved, I’d believe you. You can see their fingerprints on the material, but not their full attention.

The season opens with a one-shot at a rally in Kohima, Nagaland, where a bomb is planted by an attendee. On the face on it, this is a perfect Family Man set piece, a trademark snappy presentation of a stock situation. Yet, pulling out a flashy single-take right off the bat is a sign that this show, three seasons in, is going to rely on the tricks it’s known for. The next scene is also classic Family Man—intelligence officer Srikant Tiwari (Manoj Bajpayee) losing patience with an authority figure (the pandit blessing their new house). His trash-talk at work, and his kids’ blithe disrespect of him at home, is like it’s always been. There’s even a reprise of Srikant meeting his son’s sour principal, this time palmed off to fellow spy J.K. (Sharib Hashmi). These are all fine, fun even, but they’re variations on a familiar theme.

Srikant has barely settled in his new home when he’s asked by his boss, Kulkarni (Dalip Tahil), to accompany him to Nagaland, where a peace process spearheaded by prime minister Basu (Seema Biswas) is reaching a decisive phase: a treaty to be signed by all major rebel groups. There’s a parallel counterintelligence operation on as well, to combat China using the border with Myanmar to establish ‘phoenix villages’ on the Indian side. New adversaries are introduced: arms dealer Dwarak (Jugal Hasraj) and his fixer Meera (Nimrat Kaur) in England, and back in Nagaland, drug kingpin and assassin for hire Rukma (Jaideep Ahlawat). An ambush ordered by the former and executed by the latter leaves Kulkarni dead and Srikant gravely injured, the episode culminating in the sonorous ‘Oh Hei’ by Naga folk-rock band Featherheads—a bracing start to the series.

Almost immediately, though, things start to unravel. The show’s focus this season is on several fronts, not all of them promising. The scenes in the PMO, and those with Dwarak and Meera, struggle to come alive. There’s a return for dreary terrorist Major Sameer (Darshan Kumar), a character the show really needs to cut loose. Zoya (Shreya Dhanwanthary), injured at the end of the first season, is a moody presence throughout; she now blames Srikant for her partner’s death.

In the first two seasons, the gap between Srikant’s professional and personal life is a source of comedy and tension. This time, the show tries to mix things up by having Srikant take Suchi (Priyamani) and the kids with him to Nagaland—ostensibly to keep them safe, though, of course, they’re in a lot more danger there. Having the family participate in the A-plot makes storytelling sense, but the route feels hastily conceived, especially when they’re immediately fobbed off Srikant’s old pal Saloni (Gul Panag), who has even less reason to be in Nagaland.

Raj & DK have had a packed last few years: Farzi and Guns & Gulaabs in 2023, Citadel: Honey Bunny in 2024, all of which they’ve created, written and directed. Four seasons of TV in three years is a lot, and they’re clearly stretched thin now. You can see this in the flimsiness of the new characters the show introduces. Yatish (Harman Singha), a mysterious agent brought in to clean up TASC, is a square-jawed bore. Hansraj, cast against type as a crooked tycoon, barely registers, and Kaur’s posh English accent is distracting. In the past, Raj & DK have shown a unique ability to make even fringe players pop. Here, the only one with that quality is a slippery troublemaker named Rabbit (smartly played by Tenzin Dalha).

Rukma, admittedly, has some depth and pathos. He suffers a personal loss to rival Srikant’s loss of Kulkarni, which puts the two on a collision course. The young boy who follows him around through the season is a blatantly easy humanizing device, but it just about works. The problem with Rukma is not Rukma but a combination of Nagaland, Jaideep Ahlawat and Amazon Prime. In January, Paatal Lok, starring Ahlawat, also on Prime, dropped its second season, in which Ahlawat’s dogged Delhi cop, Hathiram Chaudhary, travels to Nagaland, where a complex web of alliances flares up in tragic violence.

Two flagship shows on the same platform set in the same north-eastern state, with similar storylines and stakes. Anyone could see this would be a problem, though seemingly not the execs at Amazon. Of course, the plan wouldn't have been for the shows to land in the same year, but assigning the star of one as the antagonist of the other feels like an entirely avoidable move. Ahlawat, ornery as ever, is a more than adequate villain, but The Family Man’s idea of the north-east suffers in comparison to Paatal Lok’s grounded, intricate and pitiless season.

The last episode ends in a blaze of action, an aspect of the show that remains taut and imaginative. Yet, once it's all done, it's hard to shake the feeling that this season is a hedged bet, with all important decisions deferred. Raj & DK at 50% capacity are still fairly watchable, but I’d prefer them relaxed and sharp rather than churning out something every year. Workload management isn’t sexy.

The Family Man is on Amazon Prime.

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