Citadel: Honey Bunny review - Varun Dhawan and Samantha mix love and spycraft, but thrills run low

2.5/5

Citadel: Honey Bunny story

A world of high-stakes action, espionage, and treachery is thrust upon Honey (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) and stuntman Bunny (Varun Dhawan) when she accepts a side assignment. After all these years, they are still very much apart, but now they have to get back together and defend their daughter Nadia (Kashvi Majmundar) from the perils of their deadly past.

Citadel: Honey Bunny review

Having lived in the world of Citadel for over a year with the 2023 series featuring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden, as well as Citadel: Diana starring Matilda De Angelis, all I wanted to know was what this organisation was actually about. Are they genuinely dedicated to protecting the world, or are they plotting a destructive plan that could lead to the end of everything? However, I still lack a clear understanding of what Citadel actually is. After watching Citadel: Honey Bunny, has the world become clearer? Let's find out...

ALSO READ: Spy series like Citadel: Honey Bunny that'll keep you on the edge of your seat  

The latest Prime Video series created by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (popularly known as Raj & DK) is in the same vein as the 2023 series, but in the past. The Italian series takes place in 2030, the future, while the US version takes place in the present. The Indian version of Citadel takes us back to the past, once again in two timelines: 1992 and 2000. 

The series stars Samantha as a single mother to her seven-year-old daughter Nadia, whom she has trained well to keep herself safe. Previously, the series portrayed Samantha as an actor struggling to establish a career. However, she is close friends with Rahi Gambhir, aka Bunny, who is a stuntman in the movies. However, his actual job is as a spy agent, working under his Baba, who is played by Kay Kay Menon. Fellow agents, Chacko (Shivankit Parihar) and Ludo (Soham Majumdar) join him. They enlist Honey into their team, initiating an espionage thriller in which they take on a mission that Citadel agents are attempting to thwart. Zooni (Simran) leads that team.

Indeed, Honey and Bunny are not affiliated with Citadel; rather, they are actively working against it. Indeed, the world remains chaotic, with each mission presenting a new challenge, leaving us to decipher the nature of Citadel and the roles assigned to its agents.

Anyway, in 1992, we see a Belgrade mission undertaken by Bunny and co., which somewhat reminded me of Ek Tha Tiger, when Salman Khan is asked to keep an eye on Trinity College Dublin professor Anwar Kidwai (Roshan Rai), to see if any legal work is done by him while working against the R&AW and for the ISI. Here, a similar mission happens to keep an eye on Dr. Raghu Rao (Thalaivasal Vijay), who has come out of his shell after a long time. 

This initiates a game of cat and mouse and a fall in trust, ultimately leading to the collapse of each individual involved. Conversely, in the present, we witness the separation of Honey and Bunny; it's evident that this separation is necessary for the story to progress. We must separate them in order to eventually reunite them.

Citadel: Honey Bunny presents itself as a romantic series, bringing together two attractive, physically fit, and action-packed characters to battle against the world. However, the latter part and the Belgrade mission, which span over three episodes and appear less deadly and life-threatening, are both subject to debate.

Meanwhile, the entire plotline revolves around the usual escapism of the future, offering nothing new. Raj & DK collaborated with Sita R. Menon to pen the screenplay—a collaboration that has proven successful in previous projects such as Farzi (2023) and Go Goa Gone (2013).

However, Citadel: Honey Bunny appeared to draw some inspiration from Guns & Gulaabs (2023), albeit with a slightly different approach. The straightforward narrative appeared surprisingly understated in comparison to the series' expected presentation.

Samantha, in her role as Honey, is the one who completely captures the hearts of viewers in the series. The actor oozes freshness for people who might have seen more of her work apart from The Family Man Season 2, where she played the main antagonist. The actor goes from a vulnerable girl with eyes full of dreams to be a confident woman in the violent world of then-Bombay. Subsequently, we witness her metamorphosis into a mother, encouraging her daughter Nadia to address her by her name instead of "mom," as she strives to instill in her the belief that everyone deserves equal treatment. Samantha's portrayal as an Andhra girl, without any forced accent, demonstrates her impeccable communication skills.

The actor definitely shares amazing chemistry with Varun as well as little Kashvi, leaving an impressive mark throughout the series. 

However, Varun excels in intense emotional scenes compared to other actors in his league. But this series doesn't seem like something extraordinary from him because we have seen the actor outperform in the most difficult genres due to his caliber as well. However, I must commend him for retaining the quirks and droopy eyes that have always worked so well for Varun.

Russo Brothers' jinxed world is home to Citadel: Honey Bunny, but the underwhelming storyline undermines the franchise's potential for improvement. But thanks to Raj and DK, all I can say is that this one is the most tolerable of the three outings in the Citadel universe. Well, that says how low the bar has been set for the series created across the globe and being among the most expensive ones. 

Citadel: Honey Bunny verdict:

Citadel: Honey Bunny dips into the world of espionage with a dash of drama and a sprinkle of romance, but ends up feeling more "Honey, I Shrunk the Plot." Despite Samantha’s fiery transformation and her spark with Varun, the series falters with a lukewarm storyline that fails to thrill or chill.

ALSO READ: Citadel: Honey Bunny - Did you know makers of Varun Dhawan’s series used Priyanka Chopra’s Nadia’s character to make the Indian version?