Raj & DK say The Russo Brothers watched Stree, The Family Man before offering them Citadel Honey Bunny

Raj & DK are directing Citadel: Honey Bunny, a prequel spinoff to Priyanka Chopra-starrer Citadel, a spy thriller created by the Russo Brothers.

The Russo Brothers are creating a cinematic universe for streaming through their ambitious crossover series of series - Citadel. While the parent show stars Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, an Indian spinoff led by Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu is set to stream soon on Amazon Prime Video. Ahead of the release, the show's directors Raj & DK have opened up on how they were brought on board. (

The Russo Brothers watched Stree and parts of The Family Man, both made by Raj and DK

Raj & DK on landing Citadel: Honey Bunny

In an interview with Indian Express, the filmmaker duo reveal that the Russos had 'sampled' some of their work before approaching them. “I think they had watched The Family Man season one edit, it hadn’t released yet, and they had watched Stree,” Raj said, adding, "But they had sampled our work. That’s what I realised later. Prime Video had shared with them the edits of the show (The Family Man).”

The filmmaker added that he was glad that they could retain their signature style on Honey Bunny while working within the Citadel universe created by the Russos "It was good that the Russo brothers told us to retain our voice and style, but we had to fit into their universe, which was the balancing act," he said.

All about Citadel Honey Bunny

Talking about Citadel: Honey Bunny itself, Raj said thay wanted to make the series less tech-savvy, minus the gadgets, holograms, and futuristic tech that Citadel has come to be known for. “We could have given this show a contemporary setting and connect it with Nadia, but we thought, what if we get away with tech? We have a lot of films which use high-tech stuff, so we thought let’s not have any holograms, no gadgets, no crazy communication devices which connects you with anyone across the world or hacking. We took out all of that and thought let them use their guns, fists and one pager is enough. So, we kept it raw, real and got actors who are very good with action,” he explained.

Citadel: Honey Bunny stars Kay Kay Menon, Emma Canning, Sikandar Kher, and Saqib Saleem, apart from Varun and Samantha. It also features Kashvi Majmundar as a young Nadia, the character played by Priyanka in Citadel. The series premieres on Prime Video on November 7.