Honey Bunny is extra of a love story than a collection about spycraft. It may be described as a collection about parenting. Honey does an exquisite job of elevating her daughter single-handedly. Nadia is fearless, identical to her namesake—the well-known Fearless Nadia of ’30s stunt movies. She’s fluent in three languages, well-versed in karate, and calm and managed in conditions that might give an grownup a headache. Kashvi Majumdar, portraying Nadia, provides a layer of credibility to the collection. In contrast to many youngster actors who can appear unconvincing when requested to play characters past their years, Kashvi brings a maturity and allure to Nadia that feels totally pure. Her portrayal of the character’s confidence, particularly as she steadily learns concerning the complicated world her mother and father inhabit, is effortlessly convincing. Her scenes with Samantha Ruth Prabhu are a pleasure to observe, and we want there have been extra moments of Kashvi and Varun Dhawan collectively—sadly, these happen solely within the sixth and last episode of season one. As talked about earlier, it is a love story framed throughout the ever-shifting dynamics of the spy world. The romance between Honey and Bunny, which ought to have served because the emotional anchor for the collection, is, sadly, underdeveloped. The shortage of depth of their relationship makes it tough to care about their struggles on a deeper degree.
Baba (Kay Kay Menon) performs mentor to each Bunny and KD (Saqib Saleem) in addition to different orphaned youngsters. He runs a semi-military organisation with a worldwide attain—although it’s unclear who’s funding him or what his motivations are. Till a sure level within the collection, we aren’t positive of its morals. Then there’s one other organisation, run by Zooni (Simran), which supposedly counters their strikes. Nonetheless, the thriller quickly fizzles out as a result of an over-reliance on drained spy tropes, making every thing really feel achingly predictable. Significantly better writing was anticipated from Raj, DK, and their workforce, who have been so profitable with The Household Man—an analogous product the place an agent tries to dwell a standard life when not searching criminals. And what’s with the low lighting, which neither does justice to the proceedings nor to the handsome forged? Fortunately, the motion is top-class. It is likely to be higher to observe it at 2x velocity after which gradual it right down to regular throughout the motion scenes. The sequence the place Bunny and a colleague decimate a whole military unit is slick as hell, Honey’s one-on-one fights are choreographed properly, and the climax, the place Honey and Bunny face off towards wave after wave of enemy troopers, is the true spotlight of the collection.
Whereas the plot fails to inject something notably recent or thrilling into the spy style, the actors achieve making the story watchable. Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Varun Dhawan ship compelling performances, displaying nice chemistry that helps carry the present by way of its extra uninspired moments. Samantha, particularly, brings each vulnerability and energy to her position as Honey, whereas Varun navigates the character of Bunny with an emotional undercurrent. Kay Kay Menon delivers a standout efficiency because the antagonist. Recognized for his skill to carry nuance to complicated characters, his portrayal right here is not any completely different. His efficiency is without doubt one of the few features of the collection that feels rigorously crafted. Saqib Saleem comes into his personal within the final episode, whereas Sikander Kher makes his presence felt as the great soldier. Simran, sadly, is vastly underutilised.
Finally, Citadel: Honey Bunny looks like a missed alternative. Regardless of the potential for an thrilling and unique addition to the Citadel franchise, the collection will get slowed down by drained spy tropes and an absence of an revolutionary narrative. The forged does its greatest to raise the fabric, but it surely’s onerous to beat a script that by no means fairly rises to the event. The nonlinear storytelling doesn’t assist both. Watch it for its creatively shot motion sequences and for the chemistry between Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Varun Dhawan, in addition to the performances from Kashvi and Kay Kay. The collection is at present streaming on Amazon Prime.
