Citadel: Honey Bunny Cast/Actors: Varun Dhawan as Bunny (Rahi Gambhir), Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Honey (Nadia’s Mother), Kashvi Majumdar as Nadia, Kay Kay Menon as Guru, Sikandar Kher as Shaan, Sakib Saleem as KD, Simran Bagga as Zooni, Soham Majumdar as Ludo, Shivankit Singh Parihar as Chacko & others.
Citadel: Honey Bunny Director: Raj & DK
Citadel: Honey Bunny Production Company: Amazon MGM Studios & AGBO
Citadel: Honey Bunny Release Date: 7th November, 2024
Citadel: Honey Bunny Available On: Amazon Prime Video
Citadel: Honey Bunny Released/Available In Languages: Hindi
Citadel: Honey Bunny No. Of Episodes: 6
Citadel: Honey Bunny Runtime: 50 Mins. Per Episode (Approx.)
Citadel: Honey Bunny Critic Review:
It’s a premise potent with possibilities. In the India-set Hindi spin-off of Priyanka Chopra’s Citadel, writer Sita R Menon and the writer-director duo of Raj & DK give kickass agent Nadia Sinh a back story with parents. What fun to go back in time, conjure a father-mother and construct a whole edifice to create a Nadia. As the writers put it, it’s like giving parents to James Bond.
Action, sneak moves and the spy world are all that surround schoolgirl Nadia (Kashvi Majmundar). Mother Honey (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) has raised her to keep her cool, never take crap from anyone and stay fearless whatever the situation.
Calling her mom by her name and later her dad too by his name Bunny (Varun Dhawan), Nadia’s been schooled by Honey to think of herself as an equal. No Mama-Papa for Nadia. Raj and DK pack enough into precocious Nadia for a believably ballsy agent to emerge with the years.
Throwing film stuntman Rahi Gambhir alias Bunny and aspiring, out-of-work actress Honey together against cloak-n-dagger espionage, high speed action and loss of trust, a credible foundation is laid for Fearless Nadia (there is more than a nod of appreciation to Indian cinema’s first stunt heroine renowned in the 1930s for movies like Hunterwali and Diamond Queen).
A bit of intrigue is thrown in with a familiar tale of Baba, a father-like figure (Kay Kay Menon) who’s picked up Bunny from an orphanage and turned him into the unquestioning machine that’ll kill or get killed. Anything for Baba whose speciality is burnt chicken with his own quirky loyalty test for the orphan boy.
But cutting back and forth between Honey-Nadia in 2000 and Honey-Bunny in 1992 is just not funny. If the story that globe-trots from Nainital to Mumbai to Bucharest gets travel-weary and time-dreary, be ready for the spotlight to swing to spy vs spy vs spy mode that makes little sense, a Citadel ready to crumble and henchmen (Sikander Kher, Saqib Saleem et al) taking over a climax that spills over a full last episode. All too soon, the love story fizzles before it gets to really sizzle.
Once they brought to life Honey, Bunny and Nadia, it’s as if the writing department hit a block and added characters just to pad it all up. Gadget freak Ludo (Soham Majumdar) could well be Q of James Bond movies. As obvious as pasta in Italy is what’ll happen to family man Chako (Shivankit Singh Parihar). God knows what Zooni (Simran Bagga), the mandatory boss woman, is around for. With lines like “Trainer with benefits” when Bunny teaches Honey to be fighting fit, forced flashbacks to Honey’s and Bunny’s childhood, a secret tunnel that makes you wonder why Honey-Bunny didn’t escape through it before a laboured gunfight, side players suddenly turning against their leader and a touch of homosexuality, thicken the plot without adding a fresh flavour to it.
The choreographed action that has big screen value comes to the rescue. Samantha (made to resemble Priyanka Chopra), Varun and Kashvi turn Honey, Bunny and chirpy Nadia into substantial characters.
Citadel: Honey Bunny – Watch It or Not?: Are you a fan of the original Citadel? Not many were. But if Nadia won your admiration, you might like to check out her parents.
Citadel: Honey Bunny Review Score Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (i.e. 2.5/5)
Citadel: Honey Bunny Official Trailer:
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