Priyanka Chopra on Citadel: As someone who worked in the Hindi film industry for a long time before making a career in Hollywood, "Citadel" star Priyanka Chopra Jonas says it is exciting to be part of a series that is taking entertainment "beyond borders and language" through an intersection of stories from different countries.
Citadel, an ambitious spy drama slated to debut on Prime Video on April 28, will act as the flagship show that will blend with local shows already under production in India and Italy, starring Matilda De Angelis, Varun Dhawan, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, respectively.
Priyanka, who plays elite spy Nadia Sinh in the series, spoke about the "cross pollination of cultures" in a global press conference. "It was so exciting to me as someone who worked for a very long time in a non-English medium to see the success of subtitled work in English language territories. But the ambition of this show, which was so attractive to me in the beginning, is kind of like the social experiment of it.
"If the flagship show is an English language, you have an Indian show, you have an Italian show, and the characters and the storylines kind of blend into each other," the Los Angeles-based actor said.
The actor hopes this blend of stories will lead people to tune into stories of different languages. "Like, are the audiences of the Italian show going to want to watch the Hindi language show where they have no similarity in language? That's so exciting and interesting to me, the cross pollination of cultures and how entertainment goes beyond borders and language now. It's just about storytelling… It's so cool," she added.
Produced by the Russo Brothers' (filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo) AGBO and showrunner David Weil, "Citadel" will premiere in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
Priyanka is paired opposite "Game of Thrones" star Richard Madden in the globe-trotting series on which David Weil servers as the showrunner. In the show, Madden and Chopra Jonas play Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh. They are part of the independent global spy agency Citadel, which is tasked to uphold the safety and security of all people. But Citadel was destroyed by operatives of Manticore, a powerful syndicate manipulating the world from the shadows.
With Citadel's fall, the two elite agents had their memories wiped as they narrowly escaped with their lives. They've remained hidden ever since, building new lives under new identities, unaware of their pasts. Until one night, when Mason is tracked down by his former Citadel colleague, Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci), who desperately needs his help to prevent Manticore from establishing a new world order.
Mason and Nadia reunite and embark on a mission that takes them around the world in an effort to stop Manticore, all while contending with a relationship built on secrets, lies, and a dangerous-yet-undying love.
Talking about the action sequences in the series, the actor said she now has a "scar on my forehead" near her eyebrow.
"That's courtesy 'Citadel'. I don't even cover it anymore," she said, crediting producers Joe and Anthony Russo for bringing in the best stunt team for the series.
Priyanka described the show as something that has "many layers and complexities" where "what you see is what you don't get".
"Everything is just conceptually crazy. And it's just so exciting to be able to share it with the world because it's been a long time in the making, it's so ambitious," she added. The actor said her character is a "bada**" who thrives under pressure. She has to hold her head up high while her character's changing, her life is changing all around her, but she has to stay centred because of the burdens that she carries. That makes her just very juicy as a character for me to play because every choice that is made by her is burdened and laden by so much pressure. And she thrives in it, so it was really wonderful," she said.
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