Samantha Prabhu wasn’t the ‘automatic’ choice for Citadel Honey Bunny because of her ‘minimal’ Hindi skills, reveals Raj Nidimoru

Raj Nidimoru was later surprised by Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s determination, as she quickly picked up Hindi after being finalized for the part. “There was always the question of how she would do this whole role. And then, I was surprised how she suddenly learned a new language like Hindi. For a Hindi-speaking person to speak Telugu or Tamil, it’s almost next to impossible to sound right. Similarly, for a Telugu or Tamil speaker, picking up Hindi is tough. That’s why I thought that it was impossible to get an actor like Samantha, who could get close to getting the language right. Hence, we weren’t thinking of Samantha at that point at all,” he said.

In the same interview, Samantha admitted that her Hindi skills were weak because she was afraid her accent and pronunciation wouldn’t be accurate. However, she worked hard to train herself in the language to meet the demands of the role.

In another interview, Samantha Ruth Prabhu revealed that she filmed Citadel: Honey Bunny after being diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder myositis. She shared how she had “begged” the filmmakers to replace her and even recommended other actors for the part, as she doubted her ability to complete the project due to her health condition. Despite this, Samantha found the strength to finish the shoot before going in for her treatment.