Varun Dhawan Boards Indian Citadel Series

The Indian installment of Anthony and Joe Russo’s Citadel is set to be headlined by Varun Dhawan, with creator duo Raj and DK (Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK) serving as showrunners and directors.

Filming on the Indian installment of the global event series for Prime Video from the Russo Brothers’ AGBO is expected to begin in January. The first series in the Citadel universe premieres next year and will star Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Stanley Tucci.

“The Citadel universe from the Russo Brothers’ AGBO is a truly innovative and ambitious approach to storytelling, and we are super excited to begin production on the Indian chapter,” said Gaurav Gandhi, VP of Prime Video India. “With this project, we are building on our mission of borderless entertainment to produce local original content that can be enjoyed by audiences across the world. Citadel is a truly global franchise, with local productions, across countries, that build back to an inter-connected storyline—a first-of-its-kind innovation in storytelling. We are delighted to have Varun Dhawan play the lead in this super exciting Indian installment of the franchise. With Raj and DK at the helm of creating this action-packed spy series, and Varun playing the lead, we believe the Citadel India chapter will not just raise the bar in terms of original productions in India, it will also bring global attention to India’s incredible pool of creators and talent. We can’t wait to share it with our audience in India and around the world.”

“The Indian installment of the distinctive and scintillating Citadel universe is amongst our most exciting projects, and collaborating with the Russo Brothers’ AGBO has truly been a thrilling opportunity,” added Aparna Purohit, head of India originals at Prime Video. “Having Varun make his streaming debut and headline this Prime Video series is a matter of great pride for us. After the phenomenal success of The Family Man, working with Raj and DK on this project feels like we’re further cementing our creative partnership. We are certain that with this series, we will push the envelope several notches higher and present a truly immersive experience to our viewers.”

“We are thrilled to see yet another production within the Citadel universe commencing, this time in India,” noted the Russos. “We, and all of AGBO, consider it an honor to be collaborating with filmmakers as inspiring as DK and Raj, who bring a unique vision, style and tone to our collection of global series.”

Raj and DK added, “We’ve worked very hard collaborating with the other international teams to bring a unique interwoven universe to our audiences. Along with a sparkling cast, we hope to push the boundaries of storytelling with Citadel India.”

Raj and DK’s D2R Films is producing the local installment with Amazon Studios. The Russo Brothers, Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, Scott Nemes and David Weil are overseeing production on the Indian original and all series within the global Citadel universe.