Raj Nidimoru says Samantha Ruth Prabhu was not the automatic choice for Citadel: Honey Bunny due to her minimal Hindi skills | Web Series

Raj and DK on Samantha Prabhu’s Hindi skills

While reflecting on the reason why Samantha was not his first choice, he stated that, “At that time, Varun (Dhawan) had called DK and DK said to me, ‘What about him for Citadel?’ We thought maybe having Varun would work and decided to change it up a bit. For a long time we kept thinking about who could play Honey. The first version of Citadel: Honey Bunny had a female protagonist who spoke very Hindi. Samantha’s Hindi, on the other hand, was extremely minimal during The family man 2. That’s why she wasn’t an automatic choice.”

He further said: “There was always the question of how she would do this whole role. And then I was surprised how he suddenly learned a new language like Hindi. For a Hindi speaker to speak Telugu or Tamil, it is almost impossible to sound good. Similarly, for a Telugu or Tamil speaker, learning Hindi is difficult. That’s why I thought it was impossible to get an actress like Samantha, who could come close to understanding the language well. So, at that time we weren’t thinking about Samantha at all.”

About Citadel: Honey Bunny

Varun Dhawan and Samantha play lead roles in Citadel: Honey Bunny as spies Bunny and Honey respectively. Varun’s character’s original name is revealed to be Rahi Gambhir, Nadia Sinh played by Priyanka Chopra’s father. The upcoming spy action series is a spin-off of Priyanka’s Citadel (2023). Raj and DK’s directorial also features Kay Kay Menon, Simran Bagga, Sikandar Kher, Saqib Saleem and others in pivotal characters. The show is scheduled to premiere on November 7, 2024.