'Citadel: Honey Bunny' will push Indian cinema forward, says Varun Dhawan

Bollywood star Varun Dhawan says he feels good about his maiden OTT series, ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’, the India-set companion piece to the globetrotting spy franchise ‘Citadel’, and believes the show will push the boundaries of Indian cinema.

Directed by filmmaker duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, the series is part of the expansive global spy universe that began with the mothership show starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden.

‘Honey Bunny’ is the third installment in the franchise, following ‘Citadel’ and the recently released Italian chapter ‘Citadel: Diana’, starring Matilda de Angelis.

"For ‘Honey Bunny', we've put in a lot of work, from getting it done to executing it and seeing it come to fruition. It's amazing. I'm already happy with it because of the quality and the way it looks. Eventually, it is up to the audience. Everyone has put their best foot forward. I'm hoping this will push Indian cinema forward. I know this is going to do well, and I'm feeling good about this,” Varun told PTI in an interview.

The Prime Video series, also starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu, is billed as a riveting narrative that fuses elements of a gritty spy action thriller with the heartwarming allure of a love story.

"When stuntman Bunny (Dhawan) recruits struggling actress Honey (Prabhu) 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," reads the official plotline.

The show, written by Sita R Menon along with Raj & DK, is executive produced by Hollywood filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo. It will premiere on November 7.

For Dhawan, known for films such as ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’, ‘Badlapur’, ‘October’, ‘Jugjugg Jeeyo’, and ‘Bhediya’, ‘Honey Bunny’ was a rare project for many reasons.

"Right from the love story between two spies and these two damaged people meeting, everything was great. Then Raj & DK executed it, Sita wrote it, and Sam played Honey. So, that was a big thing for me...Having Amazon back it and having the Russos on board, these things happen once in a while,” the 37-year-old actor said.

Dhawan revealed that he received many offers for his series debut but was instantly drawn to the idea of ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’.

"There have been a lot of offers from OTT platforms, some even in the action space. For this, if I had wished for something else, then that would've happened as well, like The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) being in it. It was just that everything was happening one after the other on this show," he said.

The actor also said that when he heard the narration of the show, Prabhu's name immediately came to his mind for the female lead.

"When we spoke about this, the first person who came to my mind was Samantha, without them even saying. I thought, ‘If Sam does it, it will become huge, and we will bounce off each other very well.' We've got a unique kind of chemistry. I think that's the only thing Raj & DK were listening to, nothing else.”

Besides ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’, Dhawan is equally excited about his upcoming releases: ‘Baby John’, an action drama backed by ‘Jawan’ director Atlee; Karan Johar's home production ‘Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari’; and the family entertainer ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’, with his filmmaker-father David Dhawan.

He will also be seen in the Sunny Deol-led 'Border 2' and the sequel to 'No Entry', alongside Arjun Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh.

“I've got too much on my plate now, and it is time to come out. It's very good. I'm not complaining at all; I'm very happy.”

The collaboration with his father is particularly special as it marks their reunion after ‘Main Tera Hero’ and the reboot version of ‘Coolie No. 1’. "He is the only director who shouts at me. He also lectures me on all the other stuff that I'm putting out right now. He is excited about ‘Honey Bunny'; he loved the trailer," he added.

The actor believes there's a dearth of well-made comedy films in Bollywood, adding that even though critics may pan such films as “not logical”, audiences enjoy watching them.

"We've made good comedies, and they have been successful too. If a comedy is generally good and makes you laugh, then it becomes critic-proof because there is word-of-mouth, and people are laughing in theatres. It doesn't matter what people say about it not being logical. As long as people are entertained in theatres, that word of mouth spreads.

“Many comedies, sometimes, which have gone on to become cult classics, like ‘Andaz Apna Apna,' were poorly reviewed and considered flops. We are making fewer comedies; we should make more because they uplift society, and laughter, in general, is the best medicine," he said.

"Citadel: Honey Bunny" also features Kay Kay Menon, Simran, Saqib Saleem, Sikandar Kher, Soham Majumdar, Shivankit Parihar, and Kashvi Majmundar.