‘There Are Some Conversations With Hollywood, Some Exciting Projects’

‘Hopefully,
in
10
years,
I
will
cross
over.’
‘I’ll
be
doing
Hindi
stuff,
but
hopefully,
global
projects
too.’

Citadel:
Honey
Bunny
Writer

Sita
R
Menon
takes
us
behind
the
scenes
of
the
spy
thriller
series
in
an
extensive,
multi-part
interview.

She
shares
how



Varun
Dhawan
hung
upside
down
for
an
hour
as
part
of
the
series’
action
routine
and
how
his
character
is
‘fully
Bambaiya‘.

But
there’s
more.

“The
three
of
us
(Directors
Raj,
DK,
Sita)
for
a
really
long
time,
were
outsiders.
We
used
to
feel
very
different.
But
at
the
end
of
the
day,
your
work
speaks
for
you,”
Sita
tells

Patcy
N/Rediff.com.

As
an
outsider,
was
it
a
struggle
to
make
your
space
in
the
film
industry?

The
outsider
feeling
is
always
there.

The
three
of
us
(Directors
Raj,
DK,
Sita)
for
a
really
long
time,
were
outsiders.

We
used
to
feel
very
different.

But
at
the
end
of
the
day,
your
work
speaks
for
you.

It’s
always
a
struggle
to
approach
actors
or
celebrities.

But
at
the
end
of
the
day,
we
are
professionals.
Once
we
get
that
awkwardness
out
of
the
way,
we’re
all
there
to
do
our
job.

Did
you
ever
have
sense
of
awe
when
you
interviewed
somebody?
Was
the
illusion
ever
broken?

A
long
time
ago
(in
2001),
Sheelaji
(Bhatt),
Jyotiji
(Shukla)
and
I
had
gone
to


interview
Amitabh
Bachchan.

I
was
new
at
that
time
and
they
were
veterans.

He
turned
out
to
be
this
person
who
knew
technology
and
the
Internet
even
in
those
days.

It
was
not
that
the
illusion
was
broken,
it’s
just
that
you
grow
up
with
a
certain
perception
of
Amitabh
Bachchan,
as
this
huge,
towering
personality.
So
that
meeting
was
impactful
for
me.

How
do
you
cope
with
a
flop
like

A
Gentleman?

Thanks
to
God,
the
shows
are
working,
but
the
movies
never
worked.
We
only
got
critical
acclaim.

I
have
this
escapist
mentality.

I
don’t
look
at
reviews
or
how
the
film
is
doing.

99
didn’t
do
well,

Shor
In
the
City
did
not
technically
do
well.

Go
Goa
Gone
was
not
a
super
duper
hit.

Happy
Ending
flopped
and

A
Gentleman
was
rock
bottom.

I’m
in
a
really
bad
mental
space
a
week
after
the
release.

After
that,
you
can
give
all
the
critics.

Fortunately,
when

Farzi
came
out,
we
were
in
the
middle
of
shooting

Citadel,
in
the
wild
in
Nainital.
So
there
was
no
great
Internet.
That
made
it
easy
and
I
sailed
through
that
release
phase.

Then
somebody
said,
oh,
it’s
the
most
watched
series
in
India.

When
we
came
back,
I
looked
up
the
reviews
and
what
people
were
saying.

When
is

Farzi
2
coming
out?

It’s
coming.
We
are
planning
and
talking
about
the
next
season.

But
we
haven’t
started
actually
putting
thoughts
to
paper.

We’re
actually
in
the
middle
of
shooting
our
next
show
called

Rakht
Brahmand
for
Netflix.

That’s
a
very
complex
project
and
extremely
stressful.

Once
that
is
done,
maybe
by
January,
I’ll
start
writing

Farzi
2.

Why
did
you
shift
to
OTT?
Was
it
COVID
or
the
fact
that
the
films
were
not
working?

Citadel
came
to
us
before
COVID.

Raj
and
DK
had
started

The
Family
Man
in
2017
or
2018;
they’ve
done
two
seasons
very
quickly.

Then
COVID
came.

I
like
the
long
format
now.

I
like
the
way
you
are
able
to
stay
with
the
characters
and
their
journey
over
six
or
eight
episodes.

The
writing
process
becomes
more
fulfilling.

Why
didn’t
you
collaborate
on

The
Family
Man?

I
was
in
the
middle
of
a
crisis,
taking
care
of
my
parents.

The
writing
process
starts
earlier;
I
think
they
spent
three
years
writing
it.

Have
you
ever
thought
about
getting
into
direction?

I
don’t
want
to.

I
don’t
have
it
in
me.

Direction
is
99
percent
people
management,
and
I’m
not
a
great
people
manager.

I
don’t
have
patience.

Where
do
you
see
yourself
in
the
next
10
years?

Now
that
this
process
has
started,
it
has
made
me
hungry
for
a
lot
more
—
creating
more
content,
not
just
writing,
creating
different
kinds
of
content.

There
are
some
conversations
with
Hollywood,
some
exciting
projects.

Hopefully,
in
10
years,
I
will
cross
over.

I’ll
be
doing
Hindi
stuff,
but
hopefully,
global
projects
too.

How
much
has
scripting
changed
over
the
years?
When
you
started,
scripts
weren’t
bound,
but
now,
do
people
deviate
from
scripts?
If
they
do,
do
they
take
your
opinion?
How
much
has
a
writer’s
importance
changed
over
the
years?

I
don’t
know
how
it
was
earlier.
Writers
may
not
have
been
given
their
due
earlier.

But
the
good
thing
about
platforms
like
OTT,
and
working
with
Raj
and
DK
is
that
because
they
themselves
are
writers.
They
know
how
important
it
is.

Without
a
writer,
there
is
no
story,
no
project.