In a scene in the first episode of Amazon Prime Video’s latest series Citadel, Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Nadia Sinh says, ‘Do I look like a woman who plays for minor leagues?’ And it sums up the true essence of what Citadel means to us, Indians. The ‘brown’ actor, inarguably, has paved the way for South Asian representation in Hollywood and has been the flagbearer of inclusivity in the West. Having marked her Hollywood debut with Quantico in 2015, Priyanka returns to headline another actioner with Citadel. Single-handedly, she amps up the glam quotient of this already slick spy series.
Watching Priyanka walk into a passenger train chugging through the Italian Alps dressed in the brightest shade of scarlet, oozing oomph and letting her eloquent, smouldering eyes do all the talking is a treat to the sore eyes. She carries her makeup pouch with weapons that look like foundation bottles. The red lipstick in it, however, is to seduce a perverted old man, who wants to burn her syndicate to the ground. And simply by being herself, she blazes the trail and accentuates the roadmap for Indian actors trying to make it big in the cinematic LA of CA. But, most of all, it is Priyanka engaging in some high-octane, jaw-dropping and incredible action that capture your imagination. She takes over and lights up every frame and never lets her lustre and sheen fade away even if she has grime and blood smeared all over herself. It’s almost awe-inspiring when she takes down the bad guys and smashes them to a pulp with her dexterous display of physical prowess. She’s fearless, sexy and badass.
Now, watching Priyanka performing action sequences with full gusto and gumption isn’t new. Back home, she has given us a taste of the same in films like Drona (2008), Don 2 (2011) and Jai Gangaajal (2016). But with Citadel, she takes it a notch higher and the credit for that largely goes to its stunt team that worked on Avengers and James Bond films. Needless to say, Citadel has all the elements of a potential firecracker.
The show revolves around the stories of Nadia and Mason Kane, who are top agents with Citadel, an organisation formed by a group of spies who are loyal to no men and nations and is dedicated to providing safety and security to everyone. While on a mission on a train, they get brutally attacked by Manticore, a syndicate formed by the wealthiest families in the world and nemesis to Citadel. What follows is a blast (literally). Nadia and Mason have their memories erased and unaware of what had happened to them, they start new lives in Oregon and Spain, respectively. Eight years later, Manticore gets hold of Citadel’s confidential X-case which contains information pertaining to agent identities and nuclear codes. To regain it, Nadia and Mason are brought back to the world of espionage and what happens next forms the rest of the show.
Its plot isn’t Citadel’s biggest strength. Most often than not, you know what is going to happen next. Predictability is a bane for a show which is billed as a spy thriller and that’s exactly why Citadel suffers. There may be many twists and turns in the narrative but they don’t push you towards the edge of your seat or make you sit up. What make up for the lack of a thrilling and nail-biting screenplay are the action sequences and the cinematography, which is exceptional. The frenetic camera movement to continuous shifts between blurred and in-focus shots render a chic polish to the series. Thankfully, the choppy interchange of lenses and angles aren’t jarringly experimental as that in the Anatomy Of A Scandal (2022). What also adds to the gloss is Alex Belcher’s music.
Apart from the stunts, Priyanka impresses with her nuanced performance. Underneath all the resolution and unyielding grit, we get to see, though rarely, Nadia’s vulnerability and emotionality. She shares a simmering and volatile sexual tension with Richard’s Mason and it is waiting to erupt anytime soon. Their chemistry is sizzling and palpable. And the makers will want you to root for them against all odds.
Richard underplays his character, but his seething anger and machismo is fairly charming. Keeping all biases aside, Priyanka steals the thunder from him with her scintillating screen presence. Unfortunately, his Game Of Thrones-esque mettle is missing in Citadel. However, his scenes and banter with Stanley Tucci stay back with you. Speaking of Stanley, his portrayal of Bernard Orlick, a senior agent, is all kinds of extraordinary. He cracks you up with his straight-faced cheeky humour. Needless to say, you keep waiting for him to appear in every frame. Lesley Manville, who plays Dahlia Archer, the broker for the oligarchy-styled Manticore, delivers a class act. The restraint with which she essays the unbending and ruthless Dahlia makes her extremely admirable.
The makers of Citadel pull every trick in the book to concoct a spin-chilling thriller and defies every rule in it too. How often do we see a desi girl calling the shots in a globe-trotting franchise? How often do we see an Indian actor not falling prey to colour blind casting? And how often do women wield the metaphorical sword and fight for world peace and order? Citadel is a true-blue disruptor and norm-breaker. It does us proud. And so does Priyanka. Yet another reason the makers of Citadel truly deserve an applause for is their ambition. In a first, a web series will have spinoff shows in India, Mexico and Italy. Wouldn’t it be spectacular to watch Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Samantha Ruth Prabhu join forces to beat up the rogues trying to manipulate the world order to upset global peace? We’re waiting.
