The Family Man: The Curious Case Of ‘Lonavala Mystery’

Ever since The Family Man 2 has been released, it feels maddening to not know what happened between Suchi (Priyamani) and Aravind (Sharad Kelkar). What happened in Lonavala between the duo has been bugging the fans and prey to our human instinct to look for the unsolved answer. For more than two years, viewers were left with a bit of unfulfillment. In fact, the audience expected the makers to reveal the Lonavala ‘mystery’ in season 2. But creators Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK left it unattended, thus, leaving all of us to an ambiguous ending.

In one of the recent interviews, Raj, DK and co-director Suparn Verma opened up about why they opted to not disclose the reason on ‘What happened in Lonavala?’ in the second season of The Family Man. As we recall, Srikant Tiwari’s (Manoj Bajpayee) wife, Suchi, goes on a business trip to Lonavala with her friend-cum-colleague Arvind. The makers say that they are not hiding anything but just dropping hints as to what’s happening. “You have a fair sense of what could have happened and what are the alternatives so we are letting them be that way. Also, at some point in the writer’s room, we decided that the audience will find out when Srikant finds out. You all get a sense of something happening. Srikant is also suspicious about what happened, but you will find out when he finds out,” DK said.

Moreover, the whole ‘Lonavala Mystery’ is a shocker for the makers as they did not expect it to become such a debatable topic. Also, Suparn Verma focussed on how sexism is still prevailing. “If Srikant and Saloni (Gul Panag) were alone in a room in season 1, nobody would even bother to ask what Srikant did in Lonavala. Just because it’s a woman everybody wants to know.” Suparn added, “I think that’s the question that should never be answered for as long as the show runs. Why should it be answered? Why can’t Suchi be her own woman and have her own life and privacy?” For time sake, the whole mystery is never really made clear, leaving viewers to decide for themselves what they want to believe.