Directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana, The Royals is set to premiere on Netflix on May 9

Shefali Fernandes

The Royals is the first modern-day Indian royalty rom-com series. On Tuesday, the trailer was launched at a grand event in Mumbai, with the cast—Bhumi Pednekar, Ishaan Khatter, Sakshi Tanwar, Dino Morea, and Chunky Panday—in attendance. During the event, Bhumi revealed that despite being hospitalised with dengue in 2023, she started reading the script of The Royals. She shared that it was the script that made her instantly jump at the opportunity.

The actress said, “Rom-com is my absolute favourite genre. In November 2023, when I got in touch with the makers, they asked me to read the script. Mujhe dengue tha, I was in the hospital, and she just told me, ‘It’s a romance.’ Main hospital mein The Royals padhna shuru kar diya because I thought, ‘It’s a romance, and that’s so rare!’ And I just couldn’t stop reading.

I remember telling my team, ‘Can I get another episode?’ And like that, I ended up reading the whole thing. It has by far been one of my most wholesome experiences. I’ve made some really close friends on this set. I feel so lucky to play this character—she has so many shades.”

Ishaan, who plays Aviraj Singh, a polo-playing Rajkumar, stated that the inspiration for his character was young royals. “The inner world of these characters was very inspiring. On the surface, it’s a very bingeable, snackable show—with all the shimmer and fun—but as you go deeper, you see their inner world, their cracks. As a character, it was exciting to play both those aspects.

I had a very inspiring team, mostly led by incredible women. It’s something that seems to be recurring in my career—a strong first-women team. The creators themselves were a big source of inspiration. Ghudswari sikhi hai maine—that was pretty exciting! We were told we had just two months to become polo prodigies, which was quite the task. Vihaan (Samat)  and I trained for two months and did all our stunts ourselves,” he stated.

Chunky shared,  “I tried to do a little bit of overacting, but the beautiful women on the team quickly told me to relax. They said, ‘You’re not in Housefull; you’re in The Royals!’ I was a last-minute addition. Ishaan and Vihaan had two months to learn polo—I had just two days!”

Sakshi, who plays Ishaan’s mother, revealed that it wasn’t easy for her to step into the character of a ‘Kumari’. This was the first time she experienced a royal kind of life, something she hadn’t seen in real life. She shared that she comes from a humble background, and the characters she has mostly portrayed so far have reflected that. So, when she was offered the role, she was shocked and couldn’t believe it was true.

Tanwar added, “I’ve only ever been a Rani for my mother. During my first scene, I was very conscious. I didn’t know how royals think. I had no reference point, so I started faking it. That night, I felt really uncomfortable because I knew I wasn’t getting it right. I had to stop thinking like myself and start thinking like the person I needed to become.

From the makeup—which was totally different—to the jewellery and the costumes, everything was designed to make me look like a queen. I learnt so much from everyone on set—the way they carried themselves. They would be joking and laughing one moment, and the moment they heard ‘Action’, they’d be in character instantly, which took me the longest.” Directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana, The Royals is set to premiere on Netflix on May 9.