Netflix’s ‘The Royals’ mix Indian palaces with the abdominal muscles of Ishaan Khatter

Palaces, power struggle and a prince who cannot keep his shirt on – Netflix’s “The Royals” brings fictional Indian aristocracy to global screens.

The newest Indian series from Netflix offers viewers a contemporary twist to the romantic comedian genre through the lens of a fictional Indian royal family in the crumbling kingdom of Morpur.

Made by Rangita Pritish Nandy and Ishita Pritish Nandy under their Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) banner, the series plays Ishaan Khatter as Aviraaj Singh, a cautious, polo-playing New-Age-Prins, next to Bhumi Pednekar as Sophia Kanmani.

The concept started with what Rangita Pritish Nandy describes as a ‘dichotomy’, in which the tension between traditional royalties and modern entrepreneurship was investigated. “Technically, the Indian Royalty does not exist. It has not been around since 1950 when it was abolished,” she explains. “So you have the palaces, and you have the apparent wealth and the show of luxury … But unlike the rest of the world, we don’t have a monarchy anywhere.”

Royalty stood up to exist from January 26, 1950, when India became a republic. However, they continued to enjoy privileges, including a monetary fee that is known as a Privy portion, which were abolished in 1971 (except some individual cases). Many former Indian palaces now work as five star hotels.

“The whole point to take richness out of the hands of those who have had it traditionally, or who are expected to have it, and put wealth and power in the hands of this entire startup tribe of warriors who have come to set up their claim and simply play with the shifting privileges of that … and to place it, a romantic,” Variety.

The series follows the unlikely partnership between Aviraaj and Sophia while working to transform the wrestling Haveli (Royal Mansion) from Morpur into a luxury B&B experience, which leads to a collision of egos that evolves into something more. Nandy notes that what “The Royals” distinguishes from standard romantic comedies, the central romance “in a thriving world that has its own energy … a dysfunctional family, a dysfunctional workplace”, creating more dynamic forces to both separate and unite the protagonists.

For Bhumi Pednekar, Sophia represented a deviation from its previous roles. “Everything she has done has been in a certain bracket, and she has been very successful at that. For her this was a different tone in her playbook,” Nandy explains. The character itself embodies the unapologetic female leads that have become a characteristic of PNC, in particular the Emmy -nominated series “Four More Shots Please” made by Nandy.

“I think all we always do is that we never apologize for our women,” says Nandy. “So it’s always a take that enables them to make mistakes … to let them find their way organically to that goal post.”

Gieten van Bhumi opposite Ishaan was intentional and tried to create a compelling dynamic on the screen. “Only the fact that they were Yin and Yang,” Nandy reveals. “We put them together in a room and you could see that they had chemistry from Word Go, but it wasn’t the typical chemistry. They were both alphas.”

Ishan Khatter, who recently played in Netflix’s Hit American Series ‘The Perfect Couple’, was ‘On Our Casting List From Word Go’, while Pednekar was recommended by Netflix. “The day I met her, I said, this is it … she is perfect,” says Nandy. “It is just very often necessary to meet an actor to know that they can do it because they are both ace in their profession.”

And for viewers seduced by Khatter’s shirtless scenes that are prominent in the trailer, Nandy confesses with humor: “I am ashamed to say that it is often, and nobody will complain.”

De cast van het ensemble bevat de Indiase schermlegende Zeenat Aman, Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Chunky Panday, Vihaan Samat, Kavya Trehan, Sumukhi Suresh, Udit Arora, Lisa Mishra en Luke Kenny.

On the demand for the evolving landscape for Indian series on global platforms such as Netflix, Nandy emphasizes the importance of cultural authenticity. “I think what we should do as content makers from India, at least, is that we have to put India somewhere in the front in the content we make,” she explains. “Every time we do that, we can take something that is internally to an external world and not just the Western world.”

“Much of the content that is made today is Tonally comparable, what makes the world. And that is where a show like ‘The Royals’ stands out, because you are talking about royalties, but you are talking about Indian royalties that does not exist technically,” she continues. The series offers viewers worldwide a look at “The World of Palaces … and the inner corridors of the palace life”, which Nandy describes as “exciting and exotic for the rest of the world.”

The show, directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana and written by Neha Veena Sharma, lasted about a year and a half to write, Nandy reveals. “What we always hope for, and our endgame, is to get another season. So if you don’t have memorable characters, characters that you want to welcome in your house … you will never enjoy a show.”

This attention for creating well -completed characters has helped PNC to attract top talent. “Actors actually like to get on board, because there is so much meat that they can dig themselves, and so nice that they can have those characters,” Nandy explains.

Nandy thinks about the evolution of PNC since its foundation, Nandy notes that their core approach has not changed dramatically. Their early films such as “Chameli”, “Jhankaar Beats”, “Pyaar Ke -side effects” and “Shadi Ke -side effects” were “never traditional Bollywood products”, but found success as multiplexes were created, allowing them to “reach a slightly more contemporary audience in the cities.”

“I feel that the content we have made always talk to a larger one, perhaps a wider world. That was in fact a handicap then and now that is our biggest asset,” she notes.

Regarding the future: “I am still going to live in the palaces of India,” says Nandy about potential plans for a second season. “There is nothing as beautiful as India. I think we have not told enough Indian stories in India. We always run away somewhere abroad, and there is a lot to be heard here.”

“The Royals” is now streaming on Netflix worldwide.