How Citadel episode 5's 'secret' Varun Dhawan cameo reveals his role in show's Indian instalment, all you need to know

The fifth episode of Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden’s sci-fi espionage series Citadel premiered on Friday. The show, executive produced by the Russo Brothers, is the first instalment of a cinematic universe, which will include separate shows in India, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. And the first step towards establishing that universe took place in this episode with a cleverly-hidden cameo by Varun Dhawan, who is starring in the Indian instalment of the show.

Spoilers for Citadel episode 5 ahead!

Citadel stars Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden as two former spies of the titular spy agency. Having had their memories wiped out eight years ago, the re-connect and must now beat the terror organization Manticore while hunting for the mole who sold out their agency all those years ago. In the fifth episode, through flashbacks, a lot of the backstory of Priyanka’s character Nadia Sinh is revealed.

The episode reveals that eight years ago, Nadia had reached out to known terrorist Rahi Gambhir in a attempt to relocate to Spain after she made a discovery about herself. When confronted by Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Osy Ikhile (Carter Spence) about why she chose to speak to Gambhir, Nadia reveals that Gambhir is, in fact, her father.

A couple of flashbacks scenes show Rahi Gambhir (played by British-Indian actor Paul Bazely) meet Nadia and help her escape Citadel and move to Spain. Interestingly enough, Bazley does not voice Rahi Gambhir on the show though, with his voice dubbed by none other than Varun Dhawan. This is confirmed when the end credits of the episode includes a ‘special thanks’ to Varun Dhawan.

What it means for Citadel's Indian instalment

Varun Dhawan is set to star in the Indian instalment of Citadel alongside Samantha Ruth Prabhu, with the series being handled by Raj & DK. With Varun voicing te father of Priyanka’s father in Citadel, it hints that the Indian instalment could be a prequel to Citadel with Varun playing a young Rahi Gambhir. What exactly will Samantha play in the show and how it will connect with the larger Citadel universe remains to be seen, however. This may be conjecture and speculation at this point but knowing the Russos, it is unlikely that this Easter egg is meaningless, and more likely that it hints at Varun’s role in almost certain terms.

In an interaction with DNA earlier this year, Raj and DK had spoken about their series. “Citadel is a universe. They are creating a spy universe, which consists of many series with one set in America, one in India, one in Italy and they might add a few more. These series are all interconnected under one larger umbrella universe,” Raj had said. His partner DK had added that though the story and concept of the series is theirs, it is linked to the other shows. “The story and the concept are all ours. But the only catch us that we are writing our story in their world, their universe. But apart from that, just like we have written Farzi, we have written this too. The plate is theirs but the meal is totally ours,” DK had added.

The sixth episode of Citadel, the finale for the inaugural season, is set to premiere on Prime Video on May 26, and it will be interesting to see if it sheds more light on Nadia and Rahi’s past. Created by Josh Appelbaum, Bryan Oh, and David Weil, Citadel also stars Stanley Tucci, Ashleigh Cummings, and Lesley Manville in pivotal roles.