Mumbai, Aug 1: Director Raj Nidomoru on Thursday said filmmakers Anthony Russo and Joe Russo were “very cool” about their idea of giving 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”, premiering October 10, in the “Citadel” universe. The original “Citadel” series, starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, released in 2023.
“It was like a big conference room where we had episodes laid out and they actually did their reading. They were very gracious, extremely collaborative and free. “When we told (them about) our idea, it was off from what they were doing. In our pitch, there was a bit more cinema. There are cinematic elements throughout. I thought they would stick to what they had in mind but they were very cool with our idea, they asked us to stick to our vision,” the filmmaker told reporters here at the teaser launch of the show.
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“When we finished the reading we were texting each other, ‘there are so many great minds sitting here together,’ and at the end of it, we said, ‘Actually we are also not so bad.’ but we have only 10% of their resources,” Nidimoru added.
DK added the Indian and international versions of “Citadel” are starkly different in terms of their scale and look.
“We saw their gadgets and everything and we were like thank god we set ours in a different time period, a different era. “Our gadgets are not going to be as fancy as theirs are in the future. When you see the rest of the show and the trailer you’ll understand,” he said, describing the show, whose teaser is set to the tunes of 80s hit song ‘Raat Baaqi, Baat Baaqi…’ from “Namak Halaal”. Nidimoru said they instantly agreed to come on board when they got to know they would be collaborating with the Russo Brothers, known for “Avengers: End Game”.
“This is the first time we are doing a collab with anybody. Otherwise, we’ve been fiercely independent filmmakers. The three (him, DK and Sita Menon) of us started from ’99’ and here we are. We write, direct and produce most of our stuff.
“That’s what we believe in doing. We can’t do something someone forces us to do. That’s the freedom we enjoy as filmmakers and we are glad we stuck to that. But we were very excited when we were offered to direct ‘Citadel India’,” he said.
Nidomoru said both Dhawan and Ruth Prabhu performed their own stunts.
“We’ve done this before (shooting a long one take action scene) and it is a very choreographed one take. But this time we had really good action, a hidden action talent in both of them that we actually put them on the line of fire. (PTI)
