Citadel: Honey Bunny acts as the prequel to the Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden starrer action series Citadel and is part of the Citadel Universe, which also has an Italian spin-off titled Citadel: Diana.
Written and directed by the phenomenal duo Raj and DK, Citadel: Honey Bunny essentially revolves around the parents of Chopra’s character, Nadia Sinh, and their origin story, which led to Sinh becoming an agent later in the 2023 web series. Featuring a glittering ensemble cast of some of India’s finest contemporary actors like Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kay Kay Menon, Sikander Kher, Saqib Saleem, and others. The series opened mostly to positive reviews, being appreciated for its meticulous action design and twisting plot developments.
However, Raj and DK’s main USP has always been their writing and structuring of their story. But one aspect that always stays unnoticed more often than not is their craft of writing and building up dialogues. Raj and DK have always had a penchant for writing iconic lines, be it “Bicky Please” from Stree or the numerous one-liners of Srikant and JP from The Family Man or the witty and chaotic back and forth shared between the characters of Guns and Gulaabs.
Citadel: Honey Bunny also has its fair share of clever, witty, thoughtful, and sometimes hilarious dialogues, and in this article, we shall discuss the same. Citadel: Honey Bunny finally released on the streaming platform, Amazon Prime.
The Fire-Cracking Dialogues of Citadel: Honey Bunny That Sparks Magic
“Pehla Punch? Main Marungi”
The show follows a non-linear form of screenplay and follows different timelines interspersed with one another to unravel the story by filling in the gaps that arise in the present timeline.
In the first episode of the series, Dancing and Fighting, Honey (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) has been undercover in Nainital for a while to give a safe and normal childhood to her daughter Nadia (Kashvi Majmundar). As Honey admits Nadia into her new school, she asks a few questions to her daughter that may indicate Honey’s training for Nadia.
Honey: You’ll always be?
Nadia: Alert!
Honey: You’ll never take crap from?
Nadia: Anyone.
Honey: Kisine bully kiya toh?
Nadia: Nahi karne dungi.
Honey: Pehla punch?
Nadia: Main marungi.
This dialogue of Citadel Honey Bunny highlights the skills of Honey’s character, which she has learnt from the spy agency of which she was a part of with Rahi/Bunny (Varun Dhawan). It also serves as the marking of the badass person Nadia will become later in life, which was explored in the 2023 American Series.
10 Farzi Dialogues That Perfectly Capture Its Essence
The Mithun x Schwarzenegger Crossover
In an earlier timeline, we explore the past of Rahi/Bunny in 1992 as one of India’s most successful stuntmen in the Indian film industry at the time.
As he meets his friend Chacko (Shivankit Singh Parihar), after completing a stunt for a film, the former grasps his hand and greets him with “You Son of a B*tch,” which is an homage to the iconic actor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 film Predator.
To which Bunny responds with, “Tere naam ka kutta paloon,” which is an iconic Mithun Chakraborty line that he has used in a number of different films.
This also shows the brilliance of Raj and DK’s writing, as they have kept the timeline of the story in mind, adding to the film discourse of the time, and they have hilariously mixed both of these dialogues as replies to each other, which isn’t something most people saw coming, and it serves as a great homage to both of these legendary performers who were at their peak at the time.
“Kya Khatra Aapko Khatam Karega, Ya Aap Khatre Ko?”
This dialogue of Citadel Honey Bunny captures the essence of Bunny’s character really well, as it is one of the few moments where we can see Bunny letting his guard down. Throughout the series, we see him as a fearless agent and stuntman who has little to no worries, as he is not very concerned about the dangers and risks of his job, as he finds it amusing. But when things go haywire in the series and Bunny is forced to take up an unprecedented decision, which is when his character goes into a moment of introspection and utters these lines.
They perfectly capture Bunny’s innermost thoughts and act as a moment of vulnerability of his character, which also emphasises his ride-or-die attitude and the fact that he almost considers life and death as an assignment for his jobs.
“Agent, Like James Bond?”
As Honey has to flee with Nadia to a safe place after her cover is blown, Nadia is curious about Honey’s past. It is revealed that Honey had not shared the entire truth with Nadia, as she believed that Honey was an actress. Honey reveals that she was an agent for a detective agency, which is where she met her father.
Nadia inquisitively asks, “Agent? Like James Bond?” to which Honey replies in agreement. This is also the moment that sowed the seeds of the profession in Nadia, as she becomes an agent for Citadel later.
“Ab Dono Ko Mix Kardo”
In a hilarious sequence where the character of Bunny is trying to hire a new agent for the agency he works for, headed by Guru/Baba (Kay Kay Menon), Bunny and his colleague Ludo (Sohum Majumdar) take a mock audition of Bunny, who had come to the city to become an actress for films.
In the scene, Ludo tries a variety of expressions on Honey as she hilariously tries to follow with his requests, and then he asks her to combine different expressions by saying this, making the scene one of the funniest in the series.
“Delhi Se Hoon…”
The characters of Chacko and Ludo are on a mission and get into a mock fight to deceive certain individuals. While Chacko starts the mock argument with the iconic dialogue “Delhi se hoon ***,” Ludo replies with “Main Bombay se hoon ***,” and the two hilariously keep yelling at each other to distract the other party.
The utter chaos and constant confusion of the scene makes it a laughing riot and shows the duo’s writing abilities.
“Humein Pata Hai Hum Kuch Bura Kar Rahe Hain, Lekin Hum Kar Dete Hain, Loyalty Ke Liye.”
This dialogue of Citadel Honey Bunny sums up the character of the Bunny quite perfectly. Throughout the series, Bunny can be seen in a dilemma of sorts, as he is a loyal agent to his spy agency, but he also cares deeply for Honey and Nadia. Because of the nature of his job, Bunny sometimes has to go against his principles, but he still does it because of his loyalty towards Baba and his spy agency.
Bunny is aware that this also brings in a lot of trouble for Honey and Nadia, but he makes sure that the two of them are always safe, especially Nadia. Honey and Bunny have their fair share of disagreements and fights in the series, but the love and warmth for Nadia always keeps them together and united, as she is their shared interest.
“I’m Still A Kid You Know?”
This is where Raj and DK shine in and set themselves apart from most contemporary writers. Raj and DK often leave these Easter egg-like dialogues in their shows and films which highlight the audience’s perspective to a certain extent as well.
They are extremely self-aware about their content, and since Citadel: Honey Bunny is an action espionage thriller that is more gory and graphic as it is a web show, it may throw off certain viewers who may not be accustomed to this kind of action.
All of these aspects are addressed by Nadia, as she announces, “Everyone is either dying or getting killed; I’m still a kid, you know?” which is an indication of the subplots of the show and also reflects the audience’s perspective on the same.
“Acting Job Hai, Lekin Without Cameras”
As Bunny finally reveals the details to Honey, she is dumbfounded. Honey is an illegitimate child of a royal family who has big dreams for herself, and she has also had to support herself. She was a pretty naive and innocent girl before she joined the spy agency, but things took a drastic turn after Bunny recruited her for the agency.
The dialogue of Citadel Honey Bunny was meant for just one mission, but later turns out to be the sad reality for Honey’s life as she has to constantly put her best foot forward for her daughter’s sake, and she also has to put up the facade of being okay and well in front of her daughter so that she has a normal childhood, away from the chaos.
She also has to pretend in front of Bunny, in more ways than one, as they grow apart with time from each other since their lives take a turn for the worse.