At the trailer launch event of Citadel: Honey Bunny, actor Varun Dhawan recently revealed that filmmaker Aditya Chopra had refused to give him an action film due to budget constraints.

He also reflected on how South Indian filmmakers have played an important role in pursuing his action career.

Dhawan acknowledged their support, saying, “At the moment, I think only South Indians are paying attention to me and giving me great opportunities in action, which is true,” Samantha said, “Yes, we Love you!”

Discussing his recent collaborations, Dhawan said, “I think I have started working with Raj and DK and Sam (Samantha), and next I am working with Atlee and Keerthy (Keerthy Suresh). Janhvi is also South Indian in a way.” So I think, hopefully, this will pave the way for more people to pay attention to our industry.”

She also recounted her meeting with filmmaker Aditya Chopra during the lockdown, which revealed a key moment in her journey towards bagging action roles. “During that time, he was making Tiger. I asked him, ‘Sir, why don’t you make an action film with young talent?’ He was like, ‘No, I only want to give you acting roles, not action.’ I kept trying, and then they said, ‘I can’t do that because I can’t give you that budget right now.'”

Dhawan shared how this conversation shaped his approach when Citadel: Honey Bunny came to him, saying, “I remember when this opportunity came up, I even asked Amazon – even though they didn’t want me Let me say this – I said, ‘What’s the budget?’ Because I am getting that knowledge from Aditya Chopra.” He expressed his gratitude to the platform and his collaborators, saying, “I’m really grateful that you put all that energy and science behind this project.”

Watch the trailer here:

Citadel: Honey Bunny is the third project in the Citadel universe, after Citadel and Citadel: Diana. It stars Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in lead roles. Directed by Raj and DK and produced by Russo Brothers, the show is all set to start streaming on Prime Video from November 7.