 "'Citadel: Honey Bunny' web-series review: Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu nicely collaborate for a spy-thriller that's both rapid and relaxed")
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kay Kay Menon, Sikandar Kher, Saqib Saleem
Directors: Raj and DK
Language: Hindi
I haven’t seen Priyanka Chopra’s Citadel but Raj and DK have made a spin-off or a prequel to her show streaming on Amazon Prime Video for the same giant called Citadel: Honey Bunny. It’s a nice title akin to Dibakar Banerjee’s swift and ferocious Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar. Just like that film, this show also has panic and pain, and at its centre, one of the characters’ precociousness. Kashvi Majumdar plays Nadia, the younger version of Chopra who played the smoldering spy agent in the aforementioned show. After a long time, a child’s adult-like behavior doesn’t reek of pretense. Given the charisma the actress exuded in the show, her childhood confidence feels earned and not erratic.
The show begins in 2000 and then moves back to 1992, when Honey and Bunny, played with likable ease by Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Varun Dhawan, are struggling to make ends meet. One is a stuntman and the other an aspiring actress. Also, look who was spotted after ages! Shiva Randani. 2024 has largely been a tepid year for content but quite a surprise package for actors who were nearly out of work. First, it was Tiku Talsania in Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Waala Video, Guddi Maruti will be making an appearance in Vijay 69, and then we see a glimpse of this man here. Raj and DK have always been masters of style and swiftness. Staying true to their repertoire of 99, Go Goa Gone, and even the guilty pleasure that A Gentleman was, they show us the core of what they have made and then get down to business.
A room for frenzy
What the director duo also retains is its penchant for enclosed frenzy, edginess and of course, comedy. A hotel room brawl between Parmeet Sethi and Samantha unfolds with unpredictable drama. And there’s some fun to be had in the scenes that precede this pandemonium. It’s interesting how the makers have chosen to tell the story of these two struggling and severely hysterical characters in the 90s. There’s no social media, no cameras, so the job needs more ‘physical’ work. You can’t seize phones or spot hidden cameras. You have to rip the mole’s clothes to expose her, both metaphorically and physically. Think of this battle of the sexes as a slightly heightened and humorous brawl between Taapsee Pannu and Sushant Singh in Neeraj Pandey’s Baby. The best way to pave way for women empowerment is to not make it obvious you’re paving way for women empowerment.
Samantha nicely showcases the despair of an out of work actor and gets the comedic energy of her character spot on. She’s the Deepak Kumar of 1992 before Saif Ali Khan played Deepak Kumar two years later in Main Khiladi Tu Anari. They both worship their face to the tee, the only difference being, one is complacent of his success, the other is bogged down by the lack of it. And the actress is just as badass, like Inspector Karan Joglekar from the same film. She understands how to raise a chuckle but also knows when to drip with swag. As the pulsating Raat Baaki plays in the background, this budding starlet turned fearless spy agent eliminates two of her foes in an action scene that brims with rigor and kinetic vigour.
Varun Dhawan has definitely matured as a performer. Or maybe he’s choosing scripts that are far more sure footed than the ones he participated in earlier. He’s no longer being accused of embodying Govinda and Salman Khan. With choices like Jug Jugg Jeeyo, October, Bhediya, we saw the actor he can be rather than what he was emulating to be. Here, he stays restrained for most of his screen time. There’s a certain sense of emotional bruise his character has suffered and sensed, and he carries it off well as the series progresses. For someone who once battled severe criticism for going overboard in his performances, his is one of the most composed turns in the show.
To Cinema, with love
No matter how much chaos the narrative is filled with, Raj and DK always find time to pay homage to their love for cinema, especially the pulpy and campy one, basically the kind of trashy fun cinema long forgotten but savoured for junk and guilt. The first glimpse of Go Goa Gone was of Chiranjeevi dressed as Dracula and dancing his heart out on the sensational track called Goli Maar from Donga. And in Citadel: Honey Bunny, after a series of pensive moments, Honey and Bunny find time to watch Govinda and Rajinikanth’s dud Gair Kaanooni. But they have a different reason. One has acted in it and the other has done Govinda’s stunts. It’s a silly moment that shows there is no need for a precise moment for some silliness.
When most of the spy thrillers get carried away by sweep and stars, this show keeps things in check and never lets its central characters overpower the narrative. Also, it’s good to see the seasoned Kay Kay Menon in what can be described as a refined performance. He’s remarkably restrained but given the history of his previous characters, particularly Haider, it’s impossible to put your bets on him till it’s all over. And Menon does a fine job of keeping his devilish demeanour a dreaded secret and using it as a weapon to satiate his own desires.
But Citadel: Honey Bunny isn’t perfect. There are pacing issues in between and those constant intercuts between timelines get in the way even when we know it’s all going to be pieced together by the time we reach the finish line. At 48 minutes per episode and six of them to offer, it does get jittery and restless to binge-watch. But it’s better to watch it in spurts and embrace its hushed pace rather than watching titles like Do Patti, Singham Again, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 with all glory and excitement and feeling exactly like Samantha from the show after a point- Lost and exhausted. Take your pick, honey!
Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)
Citadel: Honey Bunny is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video IN
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