Citadel: Honey Bunnyis the latest expansion of Prime Video’s growingCitadelfranchise. From David Wail and produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, the flagship spy series debuted in 2023 and introduced audiences to the warring intelligence agencies of Citadel and Manticore. At the heart of the show was the story of Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra), two Citadel agents who must contend with challenges posed by wiped memories, the fall of their spy agency, and the rise of the threatening Manticore.
Like the universe’s Italian spinoffCitadel: Diana,Citadel: Honey Bunnybenefits from but does not require a viewing of the original series. This show is a prequel that tells the story of Nadia’s parents—Honey, a struggling actor, and Bunny, a stuntman—whose past returns to haunt them and threaten the life of their young daughter. Honey is played by Samantha Ruth Prabu, and Bunny is brought to life by Varun Dhawan.
Citadel Season 2: Cast, Story & Everything We Know
Amazon Prime Video’s action-packed series Citadel has been renewed for a second season with stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden returning.
Screen Rantinterviewed Samantha Ruth Prabu, showrunners Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. (known as Raj & DK), and writer Sita Menon aboutCitadel: Honey Bunny. They discussed working withdifferentCitadeltimelines, what they had to do to fit in with the largerCitadellandscape (spoiler: not much), and how the central relationship between Honey and Bunny works. They also revealed some of their favorite things audiences will experience when the show comes out on November 7.
The Russo Brothers Told Them To “Do Their Thing”
Screen Rant: [Raj], I saw an interview where you said this was your own story set within The Citadel universe. You had full control over it. How did you land on the type of story that you wanted to tell?
Raj Nidimoru: When we met the Russo brothers and the whole team, what was nice was that right off the bat they said, “You should do your thing, because we like your movies and what you guys have done. Keep your tone. Keep the voice. Don’t worry about trying to do anything you don’t want to do.” They just had a few guidelines for the whole universe as to which organization is what, how they behave, [and] the rules of the system.
But we were glad, because that’s what we were hoping for. We were writing the story from scratch. Sita, DK, and I were just trying out various ideas of stories, so there was really no set baseline story. It was something we developed from scratch, and [once] we knew that we could just do something on our own in this genre, we had a lot of fun creating a new flavor.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu Reveals What Drew Her To Her Role
It Wasn’t Just About The Action
Samantha, this show is named after its two main characters. Of course, you’re fantastic as Honey, but Bunny is also key to everything. Can you talk about what that central relationship is? Do you see this as a romance story, a friendship story, or something else at its core?
Samantha Ruth Prabhu: While it is a spy action thriller, there’s a wholesome love story also in it, so I think that it’s beautiful mix of both. What drew me to the story and to the series was that it has so much heart, and that’s a rarity. Usually when you hear “spy action thriller”, you think of all the high-tech gadgets and the car chases, but not really story [or] character arcs—these take a back seat. It was so refreshing to read a script that had so much heart and [in which] every character, the story, and everything was authentic.
I had this immediate connection towards this script, and it was important to have a wonderful co-star, which Varun is. He’s such a giving co-star, and to play a really layered character, you need to have this beautiful connection and relationship on set as well. That really worked out for us because even action sequences are, as Sita [has] said, like lovemaking or something like that. It’s romantic. It’s like a dance. So, there was a lot of chemistry that was needed in the series, and I think it worked out pretty well for us. I absolutely enjoyed playing Honey.
Sita Menon & Krishna DK On How The Show’s Timeline Was Important To The Story
Menon Also Reveals The Meaning Behind Nadia’s Name
Sita, speaking of the script, this is set obviously earlier thanCitadel. Outside of just the location and the characters, how is this world different in this earlier part of the timeline?
Sita Menon: The fact that we were going to tell Nadia’s story… we chose to go not just to Nadia, but we wanted to tell the story of Nadia’s parents, which automatically would take us back 30 years to the ’90s. Right there, [there’s] rich material to draw off of. The ’90s in India were significant culturally, economically, [and] politically. And, of course, our story is set in two timelines—1992, when Bombay was still Bombay, and then in 2000 when Bombay became Mumbai after the whole Y2K, after the whole liberalization, and the influx of Western culture and industry. And then cinema—the biggest mine we tapped into. Hindi cinema [has] a huge influence in our story.
Cinema is a huge motive lining the fabric of our show. You’ll see references and nuances all across [the show], from Honey, whose greatest role model is Fearless Nadia, who was actually an actor/stuntwoman. [Honey] draws so much inspiration from that character that she ended up naming her own daughter Nadia.
Honey, as a single mother, uses a lot of cinematic references. A safe spot for her to send her daughter to is a cinema hall. The method with which she uses to communicate with her daughter via a pager is a lot of cinematic words, like play, stop, rewind–all of that. Then, there are a whole bunch of DVDs and VHS tapes that you will find all across. Where do I start and where do I stop? There’s a whole bunch of music that features in the story.
Krishna DK: Computers—it’s a big deal. They get their hands on eight gigabytes of data and [it’s like], “How do you access so much data?”
Speaking of cinema, DK, are there techniques and stylistic things, not just from your own work, but that are normal to your TV and film industry, that you wanted to bring to the world ofCitadel?
Krishna DK: In this particular instance, we did not want to embrace the shooting style of the ’90s because we still knew that this show had to be modern, even though it’s set in the ’90s. We are embracing the culture and everything you see on screen, but we were definitely conscious of the shooting style, the editing, the music, the background score. Everything has to be modern. So yeah, [in] that way everything is modern except it’s set in an era.
DK, Prabhu & Menon Hype Up Relationships And Action Moments
Expect Exciting One-Take Action Sequences
For all of you, what is your favorite thing about having the chance to bring the world ofCitadelto India?
Krishna DK: We have these oners—these one take action sequences.We have two or three of those in the show, each one getting longer than the one before. They’re very difficult to shoot and requires a lot of preparation and a lot of dedication from everybody involved, including the actors who are doing their own stunts, and, of course, the rest of the crew as well. So that’s one of the things I would say to watch out for in the show.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu: I think the mother-daughter relationship. It’s unusual and it’s quite beautifully written.
Sita Menon: Watch out for all the action sequences, especially the ones between Honey and Bunny.
About Citadel: Honey Bunny Season 1
When stuntman Bunny recruits struggling actress Honey for a side gig, they are hurled into a high-stakes world of action, espionage and betrayal. Years later, as their dangerous past catches up, the estranged Honey and Bunny must reunite and fight to protect their young daughter Nadia.
Citadel: Honey Bunny
Cast
This spy action thriller, set in the ’90s, follows the origins of a clandestine spy agency, blending espionage with a touching love story. It delves into the agency’s foundation, covert operations, and rise to power.
