The trailer of Citadel: Honey Bunny has grabbed a lot of attention for its edgy stunts, the usage of tracks like Raat Baaki and Aaj Ki Raat playing in the backdrop of the action sequences, and the chemistry between its lead pair, Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Interestingly, this marks their first collaboration. The Raj-DK series marks the Indian chapter of the Russo Brothers’ spy franchise, Citadel, and is set for a premiere on November 7 on Prime Video.
Back in 2019, when Samantha was shooting for the director duo’s The Family Man 2, work had already begun on Citadel: Honey Bunny. However, she came aboard much later. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Raj Nidimoru reveals why there was a big gap between casting Samantha and Varun, who was the first actor to be roped in for the show. “We didn’t tell her during The Family Man 2 that we’re making Citadel: Honey Bunny because we were still in the developmental stage," he tells us.
Raj divulges that, unlike Varun, Samantha wasn’t even aware that he, DK, and writer Sita R Menon had submitted two ideas to the Russo Brothers. “Varun became an insider the moment we pitched the story to him. He knew that we were doing this show much before Samantha knew. We had just created a story and were happy that we finally found a rhythm," the Stree and Go Goa Gone maker recalls.
Raj said Samantha wasn’t their first choice for some ‘logistical problems’. Shedding light on the same, he shares, “At that time, Varun had called DK and DK told me, ‘What about him for Citadel?’ We thought that maybe having Varun would work and we decided to switch around a little bit. For a long time, we kept thinking about who could play Honey. The first version of Citadel: Honey Bunny had a very Hindi-speaking female protagonist. Samantha’s Hindi, on the other hand, was extremely minimal during The Family Man 2. That’s why she wasn’t an automatic choice."
He adds, “There was always the question of how she would do this whole role. And then, I was surprised how she suddenly learned a new language like Hindi. For a Hindi-speaking person to speak Telugu or Tamil, it’s almost next to impossible to sound right. Similarly, for a Telugu or Tamil speaker, picking up Hindi is tough. That’s why I thought that it was impossible to get an actor like Samantha, who could get close to getting the language right. Hence, we weren’t thinking of Samantha at that point at all."
In the same interview, reacting to Raj’s words, Samantha said, “Honey was right before their eyes all this while but they couldn’t see it! I was so bad when it comes to Hindi and I’m still bad at it. It’s not like I don’t understand or can’t speak the language. It’s just that I’m so scared and nervous thinking that my accent or pronunciation might not be right (sic)."
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