We are familiar with Raj and DK, the acclaimed directors behind the movies 99 and Go Goa Gone and the series The Family Man, Farzi and Guns & Gulaabs. The duo is actually a triumvirate: right from Raj and DK’s second feature Flavors (2003), Sita Menon has been their creative partner.
Menon has written as well as shepherded productions at the company D2R Films, including Prime Video’s upcoming Citadel: Honey Bunny and Netflix’s Rakt Bramhand. While Honey Bunny is an Indian spinoff from the Russo brothers’ spy series Citadel, Rakt Bramhand is a fantasy show directed by Raj and DK along with Rahi Anil Barve (Tumbbad).
Menon is a former journalist and television executive. In an interview, she told Scroll about how she came to be associated with Raj and DK and what she brings to the table as a creator. Here are edited excerpts.
How did you get acquainted with Raj and DK and make the transition from journalism to screenwriting?
Growing up, I didn't really have an idea of what I wanted to do. But I did know I could write decently. My dad was a journalist, so I decided that I would become a journalist too. For a brief period, I thought I would be the next Virginia Woolf.
My decision met with a huge backlash from my dad and because he was against it, I became more determined. I would say my writing career started out of rebellion. I worked in a number of publications, but gained my foundation for feature writing at Rediff.
Rediff had a publication called India Abroad [aimed at Indian American readers]. At the time, Indian-American filmmakers were sort of rising. I was heading the movies vertical at Rediff and happened to contact Raj and DK, who had come out with a film called Shaadi.com. From there, it spiralled into many conversations. They asked me to look at the first draft of their next feature film. I had no idea about screenwriting or film, yet I ended up with an executive producer credit on Flavors.
In those days, we were independent, so everybody did everything from designing posters, writing lyrics, assisting, script supervising. It was exhilarating. They dangled that carrot and I bit.
From Flavors, we went on to 99 and Shor in The City – all this while I was working at Rediff. I wanted job security. Later, when I was working with Star India, I felt it was time to jump. I went on to Go Goa Gone, Happy Ending, A Gentleman. In a sense, my film schooling has been with Raj and DK.
Only since Farzi in 2023 have you come into the spotlight. What prompted that shift?
For 10 years, I had one foot here and one foot there. Once I moved into films and the series space fully, it was time to step out. In between, I went down south and tried co-producing some things with friends. I didn’t care for that experience because, having grown up in Mumbai, I just didn’t feel on the same page.
So I came back and that was the time streaming was starting up. I got a few assignments here – not with Raj and DK – but those projects fell through. I didn’t know what I was going to do until all of a sudden, things just completely changed in early 2019 with Citadel. Yes, it has been five years in the making. Farzi was entirely written and planned on Zoom during lockdown. I’ve not stopped working since then.
The tricky years were between Happy Ending in 2014 and Citadel. In 2014, I had to take care of some personal issues. I neglected my career at that point. I thought I was a goner, having ditched a successful career to plunge into the unknown at a super-late stage and losing five-six years that I might have otherwise capitalised on. But it’s okay. It’s never too late for anything, and I have learned that you can make it if you really want to.
What can you tell us about Citadel: Honey Bunny, which stars Varun Dhawan and Samantha?
I came up with the idea for Citadel for India and pitched the concept. In fact, I sent two ideas and while they liked both, they went with this one. I have been involved intensively right from the beginning on everything to do with Citadel.
The Russo brothers have this idea of a spy backdrop that can be franchised across the world. Besides the mothership, there are other chapters including India, each with its unique, original story, but with touch points into the larger universe, to show that it’s the same world that these people are cohabiting.
Honey and Bunny are the names of our characters. The show is set in a gritty, rough, action-based spy world, but at the end of it, this is their love story. The concept started with asking if James Bond is a badass spy, the best there is, then imagine what his parents would be like? They would be even greater spies. It’s entirely set in India, with a little bit of shooting in Serbia.
From this spyverse, you go to the period fantasy Rakt Bramhand. Raj, DK and you seem to enjoy genre flipping.
Yes. Rakt Bramhand is a completely different world. It’s a period piece with our interpretation of ancient India. It’s set in a fictional world with fictional rules. It’s a huge, fast-paced drama with action, romance, tragedy and a tinge of mysticism.
We are genre-agnostic, we bend genres, and we love that. When we started out, we had decided that we wanted to do all kinds of things. As a writer, you have to be versatile. While there might be some spaces you may not be comfortable with, for example sci-fi, you could possibly tell a story where somebody can fill in on the tech angles. A story is a story and you get the research and help to tell it.
Raj and DK’s world building has a distinctive stamp – wackiness, humour, attention to characters. Does each of you bring one special skill to the table?
Raj brings in a lot of quirk. DK brings in structure and breakthrough ideas when we are stuck. By no means is this all they do. This is apart from everything else that they do.
What do I do? I don’t know. I create and develop alongside them. Sometimes the creation comes from me. Sometimes it comes from them and then I develop the hell out of it. Like Farzi was their idea which they passed on to me. Rakt Bramhand came off a Marathi short story that Rahi Anil Barve took to Raj and DK. We felt it had potential. The current Rakt Bramhand has no bearing on that short story. It's far, far beyond it.
Do you agree that men hold greater prominence and recall for Raj & DK than the female characters?
I do agree. I chalk it to the fact that earlier, I was finding my feet. Raj and DK are used to that buddy space, which they’ve known growing up. That’s what they identify with most, which is why right from 99, there’s a buddy system across the shows and films, even with Stree, Happy Ending, Farzi.
Farzi was written some time before it was made. There were the female characters of Megha and Michael’s wife Rekha. At that point, they were peripheral. My job, besides writing out the story of Farzi, was to focus on making the characters human, to make the relationships come out. Rekha [Regina Cassandra] had very little screen time. The challenge was to make Rekha leave an impact even in that limited time.
Similarly Megha [Raashi Khanna] is a woman in a man’s world. A strong woman of strong character, she was waiting to be mined. Hopefully I was able to achieve that. The women weren’t as impactful as Shahid Kapoor, Vijay Sethupathi and Kay Kay Menon, of course, but to make them heard and not just props is a sort of victory for me.
Rakt Bramhand also has scope for strong female characters. Citadel has a seriously badass woman. That’s what I brought to the table.
What else are you working on?
Farzi 2 is in the pipeline, but only after Rakt Bramhand is done. There is a collaboration with Marvel, which is an audio project with Audible. I’ve written the story of an X-Men female superhero. We shall see whether it has legs to transition further onto other platforms. Other international conversations are going on.
Would you like to branch out on your own?
I did try. The few times that I’ve actively sought partnerships and collaborations outside of Raj and DK haven’t really worked out. But now I am writing a film for producer Nikhil Dwivedi on Param 8000, India’s first supercomputer. That’s outside of Raj and DK.
What are your inspirations and references?
For the longest time, we idolised Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and I further loved Krzysztof Kieslowski, Takeshi Kitano and Wong Kar Wai. I’ve been watching Korean, Japanese and Chinese content incessantly, and I derive all kinds of inspiration, because the way they deal with relationships is very different from what we do. That gives me a lot of raw material to approach characters.
I watch mainly English and international dramas. When I’m writing something, for example a period piece, I will watch something entirely different. That gives me a chance to think, a different perspective.
I read lots of screenplays. I admire Aaron Sorkin, Greta Gerwig and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. I lean on them a lot. Sometimes, when I’m stuck, one of my hacks is to look at one of their screenplays. The way they write and tackle a scene may be entirely disconnected from what I am writing, but it helps open up a pathway.
