MUMBAI: Actor Manoj Bajpayee will return as NIA agent Srikant Tiwari in the second season of the hit web show, The Family Man, on February 12.

Maintaining a cryptic quirk in sync with the show's theme of espionage, the release date rounds off to '1202' in '2021'.

South star Samantha Akkineni joins the action in season two, as an antagonist. Srikant, while struggling to balance his personal and professional lives, will be pitted against a new nemesis, Raji, played by Samantha.

Besides Bajpayee, the show brings back Priyamani, Sharib Hashmi, and Sharad Kelkar. Created, directed and produced by Raj and DK, the show also features Darshan Kumar, Sunny Hinduja, Shreya Dhanwantary, Shahab Ali, Vedant Sinha, Mahek Thakur and Seema Biswas. The series will see Tamil cinema including Mime Gopi, Ravindra Vijay, Devadarshini Chetan, Anandsami and N. Alagamperumal in the cast, too.

"The response to the first season was overwhelming and it struck a real chord with the viewers. We are hopeful that we can continue to tell a story which is, as compelling and engaging as the first season," said Raj and DK.

"The one question we were asked for the last 16 months is - when is season 2 coming. Our team has worked from home through the pandemic and amidst all the constraints to complete the season. We wish to thank everyone involved in our show, and fans can be sure that we have plenty of surprises in store for the new season of The Family Man," they added.

"The fact that the fans had successfully managed to decode the show's launch date by reading ‘2021' as ‘1202' in reverse when we recently unveiled the teaser poster is a testament to the show's unparalleled fandom! We are excited to present the brand new season of The Family Man to our customers," said Aparna Purohit of the streaming service Amazon Prime Video, which airs the series.