When Varun Made Samantha Cry

“Kasa
kai
Mumbai?!”
Varun
Dhawan’s
energetic
greeting
prompted
hooting
and
cheering,
as
he
waved
to
a
packed
auditorium
at
Mumbai’s
Mehboob
Studio
on
Thursday
afternoon.

It
was
a
grand
occasion
to
mark
the
launch
of

Citadel:
Honey
Bunny,
which
sees
Varun
paired
opposite
Samantha
Ruth
Prabhu
in
a

dhamakedar
spy
action
Web
series
combined
with
a

tadka
of
their
steamy
romance.

The
dynamic
star
duo
set
the
stage
on
fire
as
they
posed
for
shutterbugs.

They
were
joined
by
Director
duo
Raj
Nidimoru
and
Krishna
DK
aka
Raj
&
DK
as
well
as
their
writer
partner
Sita
R
Menon
and
Prime
Video
India’s
head
Nikhil
Madhok.

Honey
Bunny
is
the
Indian
chapter
of
Prime
Video’s
global
spy
franchise

Citadel
that
kicked
off
last
year
with
Priyanka
Chopra
and
Richard
Madden.
Anthony
Russo
and
Joe
Russo
aka
the
Russo
Brothers
(Avengers)
serve
as
co-producers.

WATCH:
Raj
&
DK
talk
about
their
first
meeting
with
the
Russo
Brothers:

The
event
saw
the
live
performance
by
Shilpa
Rao
and
Sachin-Jigar
who
crooned
the
romantic
ballad
from
the
series
titled

Yeh
Safar.

Watch
their
live
performance:

Later,
singer
Ash
King
performed
the
show’s
zippy
title
track
that
immediately
pumped
up
the
audience.

Watch
the
live
performance
here:

The
most
awaited
moment
arrived
with
the
teaser
reveal
showcasing
Honey
Bunny’s
gritty
and
fast-paced
action.

The
exciting
bit
about
the
teaser
is
the
action
unfolding
to
the
tunes
of
the
’80s
chartbuster,

Raat
Baaki,
Baat
Baaki
from

Namak
Halaal,
with
Varun
and
Samantha
navigating
through
the
perilous
mission
in
not
seen
before
avatars.

Despite
having
no
dialogues
whatsoever,
the
chemistry
between
the
two
actors
looks
off
the
charts
in
their
first
outing
as
lead
pair.

“It
is
a
violent
love
story,”
Varun
says
with
a
smile
as
he
recalls
his
first
day
where
he
was
asked
to
punch
Samantha.

“She
was
like,
‘Hit
me,
hit
me.’
There’s
definitely
a
lot
of
hitting
going
on
in
this
show
for
various
reasons,”
he
adds.

Samantha
leaves
behind
the
melancholy
of
her
illness
as
she
ups
her
action
game
after

The
Family
Man
2.

But
the
path
was
perhaps
not
so
easy.

Varun
shares
he
saw
Samantha
succeeding
through
many
challenges
during
the
course
of
the
show,
which
left
him
inspired
by
her
“incredible
work
ethic”.

“It’s
a
public
knowledge
what
she
was
battling
when
she
joined
the
show.
I
thought
my
rehearsals
were
tough
but
then
I
saw
her
incredible
work
ethic
despite
her
struggles,
and
it
truly
inspired
me,”
Varun
says.

“I’ve
never
been
on
a
shoot
or
a
creative
process
like
that
before,
where
I
witnessed
a
co-actor
going
through
such
challenges.
You
learn
a
lot
about
human
resilience
and
strength
when
you
see
someone
battling
something
and
still
succeeding.”

“Varun
is
being
too
kind.
I
am
going
to
cry
now,”
Samantha
says
emotionally,
in
this
video.

When
Samantha
was
asked
how
she
deals
with
negativity
amid
her
health
situation,
the
actress
admitted
that
it
does
get
to
her
sometimes
but
she
refuses
to
succumb
to
it.

“I
do
give
up.
I
can’t
tell
you
I
don’t,
but
that’s
not
where
the
story
ends.
I
climb
back
up,”
she
says.

Her
candid
response
received
loud
cheers
from
her
well-wishers.

Varun
and
Sam
took
the
opportunity
to
treat
their
fans
with
a
special
surprise.
They
fired
a
smoke
gun
on
stage
that
released
Honey
Bunny-themed
tees
with
the
actors’
autographs
inscribed
on
them.

WATCH:
Varun
tries
to
ape
Samantha’s
“10-minute
ice
bath”
to
recover
sooner
from
bruises.
This
is
what
happened
next.

From
doing
“12
minute
one-take
action
sequence”
to
shooting
at
“many
real
locations”
without
stunt
doubles,
Varun
hails
his
streaming
debut
as
a
“great
learning
experience”.

He
reveals
that
Raj
&
DK
warned
him
against
taking
up
any
other
project
to
safeguard
his
look
from
the
show,
which
he
obliged.

“When
you
work
with
directors
like
Raj
&
DK,
they
are
concerned
whether
you
are
starting
another
film
or
ad.
When
I
took
up
the
show,
they
had
strictly
told
me,
‘If
you’re
doing
this,
you
cannot
do
another
film
or
shoot
no
ads
because
this
is
your
look,
you’ll
be
only
this’.
I
enjoyed
it
because
I
got
to
be
in
the
character
of
Bunny
for
a
longer
period
of
time,”
Varun
narrates.

WATCH:
What
left
Varun
angry
on
the
sets
of

Honey
Bunny?
He
shares
the
story
in
this
video.

Staying
true
to
his
jovial
nature,
Varun
called
Raj
&
DK
“kanjoos‘”
for
not
revealing
more
in

Honey
Bunny
teaser.

The
makers,
in
their
defense,
assured
many
surprises
for
the
audience
when
the
show
drops on
November
7
on
Amazon
Prime
Video.