The Paintra(s) they use: Dissecting the Show-off sequence of Srikant and Raji.

 

The Family Man 𝘚2E6 was the moment when finally the "hero" and "villain" of the season come face to face to have a chat and it easily makes for the most intriguing and power packed episode this season. In all great Good vs Evil movies we at least get one of these "money-scenes" where there will be a verbal show off between the two protagonists who have different, contrasting agendas. This is the moment in the show when Srikant and his allies have finally got hold of Raji who they tried to hunt down for the last few episodes. They bring Raji to the police station where the local villagers actually are militant empathisers.

Srikant wastes no time to start interrogating her and as he realises that she is a highly trained guerrilla, he resorts to his "paintra" of emotionally blackmailing someone by creating a fake sentimental in order to get the information out regarding the attack. Now this has been the defining character trait of Srikant's character since S01 and we have earlier seen him getting success with it in front of civilians as well as terrorists like Moosa. But since Srikant's life has been haywire now and it's mind is conflicted, we could see a change of heart in the way he uses it something that surprises JK when he learns that Srikant told a true story to convince Milind to join TASC back. Raji lets Srikant finish her story and narrates her side of gruesome struggle where her family gets killed by Sri Lankan government and she was terrifyingly gangraped by the army. Then she contradicts Srikant saying that it is her story that is true and no amount of torture can soften her.

We see Srikant's bemused expression as he knew his manipulation was bound to fail someday since many of the people he uses this trick on have grown through a lot more horror in life than him and for some terrorism choose them rather than they choosing it. Raji here represents the proletariat and Srikant here represents Power(as he in S0207 says that they are protecting a position. It's just a duty). The scene showcases how people in power often fail to empathize with people of margins because of the lack of shared life experience. Before Kareem's wrongfully done encounter Srikant never sat down to introspect how terrorism and abuse of power go hand in hand and how he is just a cog in the machinery who just keeps the cycle rolling by protecting a few section of people while destroying a section without knowing their plights. It is common for the upper-class to mock and belittle the struggles of marginal people to get the job done without taking to account the emotional trauma they have undergone. Srikant acknowledges this through Raj and DK's subtle writing that politics can turn people's life into hell and make them monsters and Raji is just a victim of that. We see Srikant expressing his guilt by saying "Sometimes, I think, do we really make a difference?"

A few scenes later when the police station was attacked by Raji's allies and local sympathizers, Srikant tries to escort Raji safely to the police van to take her to Chennai. Here the Tables flip. Raji tries to fight back and dares Srikant to untie her if he is a "Mard". Earlier it has been established that Raji has contempt for Men because of what they made her go through. She has lost her nerve for protecting her body and takes autonomy of her own body. She, in situations, let perverted men sexually exploit her, to get her job done looking at the bigger picture. Thus she is also a master manipulator like Srikant, who can't go to lengths to get their job done. But Srikant, being a sensitive male, retaliates by saying "I have no interest in proving that I have a man". The line is both a punch on the toxic masculinity in society and a testament that Srikant is sharp enough to not fall for cheap emotional paintras by Raji. Thus the scene elevates both the protagonists to a level of greatness; and also strings the apparently hard to believe loose ends of the effectiveness of Srikant's Manipulative skills and shows through Raji how it's humane to resort to the same paintra in desperate times.