Mumbai: Director Raj Nidomoru on Thursday said filmmakers Anthony Russo and Joe Russo are “very cool” about his idea to give a cinematic spin to the Indian version of “Citadel”, which is set in the 90s.
The Indian series, “Citadel: Honey Bunny” follows the Italian series “Citadel: Diana”, which will premiere on October 10 in the “Citadel” universe. The original “Citadel” series starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas will be released in 2023.
“It was like a big conference room where we laid out the episodes and they actually did their readings. They were very humble, extremely collaborative and free.
“When we told him our idea, it was different from his work. Our presentation had a lot more of a cinematic flavour. There are cinematic elements everywhere. I thought he would stick to what he had in mind, but he was very happy with our idea and asked us to stick to our vision,” the filmmaker told reporters at the teaser launch of the show.
“When we finished reading we were messaging each other, ‘There are so many great thinkers sitting together here,’ and at the end of it we said, ‘Actually we are not that bad.’ But we only have 10% of their resources,” Nidimoru said.
DK said that the Indian and international versions of “Citadel” are completely different in terms of their scale and look.
“We saw their gadgets and other things and we thought thank God we have set our film in a different time period, a different era.”
Talking about the show, he said, “In the future, our gadgets will not be as fancy as theirs. You will understand when you see the rest of the show and the trailer.” The teaser of the show is based on the 80s hit song ‘Raat baaki, baat baaki…’ from ‘Namak Halal’.
Nidimoru said that when he got to know that he was going to collaborate with the famous Russo Brothers for “Avengers: End Game”, he immediately agreed.
“This is the first time we are collaborating with someone. Otherwise, we have been completely independent filmmakers. The three of us started in ’99 and here we are today. We write, direct and produce most of our films.
He said, “This is what we believe in. We can’t do something that someone forces us to do. This is the freedom we have as filmmakers and we are happy to stick to it. But when we got the offer to direct ‘Citadel India’, we were very excited.”
Nidomoru said that both Dhawan and Ruth Prabhu performed their own stunts.
“We have done this before and it is a very choreographed one take. But this time we had really good action, both of them had a hidden action talent which we really put in the line of fire.
“There was no stunt double. They had to do it all by themselves, so it was a challenge this time and they were up for it,” Nidimoru said. He added that it was great to work with “passionate” actors like Dhawan and Ruth Prabhu on the show.
Ruth Prabhu said that while doing action scenes with Dhawan, it felt like filming a “romantic song”.
He said, “Varun is very kind, it was a partnership, when we did action it actually felt like a dance. Action felt like a romantic song because there was a lot of chemistry and we never had that kind of chemistry.”
He added, “I’ve never felt this kind of chemistry with anyone and I believe it shows, because that action sequence is really special. I shouldn’t say this myself, but it was absolutely beautiful to make.”
Ruth Prabhu, who worked with Raj and DK for “The Family Man” season two, said she hopes the audience will like “Citadel: Honey Bunny” as well.
“‘The Family Man’ has brought us luck. I don’t know if I will wait for the audience’s verdict on it, but I hope I succeed in it. I think action is a genre that I am really interested in and I would like to work more in it. I hope they give it their blessings.”
“Citadel: Honey Bunny” is set to release on Prime Video on November 7.
The series is produced by D2R Films, Amazon MGM Studios, and executive produced by the Russo Brothers’ AGBO.
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