Review 'Citadel: Honey Bunny': Some things seem too good to be true

Full disclosure: I haven’t seen the American series Citadel till date. Not even the trailer. Not sure why. All I know is that the child actor in this one, Honey and Bunny’s daughter, is enacting the childhood of Priyanka Chopra’s character in the original spy series.

Watching Citadel: Honey Bunny, a spy action thriller, helmed by Raj & DK, who have a wide repertoire under their belt including The Family Man, Guns and Gulaabs, and Go Goa Gone leaves me with a feeling that this particular one could have done with some tighter editing and a faster pace. Not that the plot itself doesn’t hold your attention; on the contrary, the tale that unspools in the first two episodes keeps things interesting.

The action flits from 1992 to 2000, from Mumbai to Nainital, and briefly Bucharest. Honey (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) and Bunny (Varun Dhawan), the namesake protagonists through a complex twist of fate end up being part of a spy organisation that may or may not be on the right side. So far, so good, but when you see the lack of chemistry between the pair and Dhawan playing himself for the umpteenth time (a macho romantic), the show starts losing a little lustre.

Now let’s get back to the beginning of the first episode. Honey has been kidnapped and is being driven in the back of a vehicle. It sort of mirrors the scene in Netflix’s Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen, where the main character has been knocked out, kidnapped and is being driven in the back of a vehicle. In both the situations, you realise that these aren’t women who can be held down or held back.

Ruth Prabhu does justice to her role, which requires playing a strict, yet loving mother as well as Dhawan’s spy-in-training and love interest.

The plot as of now in a nutshell: Rahi “Bunny” Gambhir leads a double life—stunt double by day, secret agent by night. Alongside his loyal team, Chacko and Ludo, his world turns upside down when he meets Honey Raj, a struggling actress with a royal lineage. Their romance deepens as she joins his dangerous missions, but chaos ensues when Citadel agents ambush them, leaving Honey wounded. Bunny reveals his spy life to her, and together, they fall in love and become partners in espionage.

Years later, Honey is in hiding with their daughter, Nadia, while Bunny, who is now a singer in Bucharest learns they’re alive. Reuniting with Chacko, he races to protect his family as danger closes in on his past love and his child. Meanwhile, Honey seeks refuge in another place where the showdown could take place.

The niggle for me with this is that unlike other good work from Raj & DK, which usually has a societal underdog that you can root for, in this one, at least until now, Honey and Bunny seem to be doing quite well for themselves, considering they are spies. In fact, they seem to be ‘almost too good’; they don’t seem to have faults and they seem to be good at everything they take on, from daredevil stunts for him to shooting cans kept at a significant distance for her.

One of the other things that has been giving the two timelines a shade of their own is the orange-ish light used indoors in both. It seems to be meant to create a sense of suspense or a feeling of tightness, which it succeeds in.

Anyway, the interesting thing about it is that as spy thrillers go this one does try to create something original, albeit with a copycat move or two thrown in. One interesting find is Kashvi Majmundar as Nadia, the daughter. She plays the role naturally, in a manner that does not make you cringe at the smart moves of this child, almost like a spy herself. Well, her mother did train her from an early age. As debuts go, this one shows someone who thrives in front of the camera but does not acknowledge its presence.

Some dark humour also comes into play such as when it relates to showing the passing of Bunny’s sleeping, snoring spouse, which frankly the director duo is quite good at, but alas, the serious business of saving the world keeps coming back to tease us.

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