Netflix’s ‘The Royals’ Mixes Indian Palaces with Ishaan Khatter’s Abs

The Royals: A Modern Take on Indian Royalty

Palaces, power struggles, and a prince who can’t keep his shirt on — Netflix‘s “The Royals” is bringing fictional Indian aristocracy to global screens.

Netflix’s latest Indian series offers viewers a contemporary twist on the romantic comedy genre through the lens of a fictitious Indian royal family in the crumbling kingdom of Morpur.

Created by Rangita Pritish Nandy and Ishita Pritish Nandy under their Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) banner, the series stars Ishaan Khatter as Aviraaj Singh, a reluctant, polo-playing new-age prince, alongside Bhumi Pednekar as Sophia Kanmani Shekhar, a fiercely driven CEO with corporate ambitions.

The concept began with what Rangita Pritish Nandy describes as a “dichotomy,” exploring the tension between traditional royalty and modern entrepreneurship. “Technically, Indian royalty doesn’t exist. It hasn’t existed 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 do not have a monarchy anywhere in India.”

Royalty ceased to exist from Jan. 26, 1950, when India became a republic. However, they continued to enjoy privileges, including a monetary allowance known as a privy purse, which were abolished (barring some individual cases) in 1971. Many former Indian palaces now operate as five star hotels.

“The whole point of taking wealth out of the hands of those who have traditionally had it, or who are expected to have it, and put wealth and power into the hands of this whole startup tribe of warriors who have come to kind of stake their claim and just play around with the shifting privileges of that… and to place at the heart of it, a romance, because I am a rom-com baby,” Nandy tells Variety.

The series follows the unlikely partnership between Aviraaj and Sophia as they work to transform Morpur’s struggling haveli (royal mansion) into a luxury B&B experience, leading to a clash of egos that evolves into something more. Nandy notes that what sets “The Royals” apart from standard romantic comedies is placing the central romance “in a thriving world which has an energy of its own… a dysfunctional family, a dysfunctional workplace,” creating more dynamic forces to both separate and unite the protagonists.

For Bhumi Pednekar, playing Sophia represented a departure from her previous roles. “Everything she’s done has been in a particular bracket, and she’s been very successful at that. For her, this was a different note in her playbook,” Nandy explains. The character herself embodies the unapologetic female leads that have become a hallmark of PNC, especially Prime Video’s Emmy nominated series “Four More Shots Please,” created by Nandy.

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

The casting of Bhumi opposite Ishaan was deliberate, seeking to create a compelling on-screen dynamic. “Just 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 was not the typical chemistry. They were both alphas.”

Ishaan Khatter, who recently starred 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’s perfect,” Nandy says. “It just takes meeting an actor, very often, to know that they can do it, because they are both ace at their craft.”

And for viewers enticed by Khatter’s shirtless scenes prominently featured in the trailer, Nandy confesses with humor: “I’m embarrassed to say it’s a lot of times, and nobody’s going to be complaining.”

The ensemble cast features Indian screen legend Zeenat Aman, Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Chunky Panday, Vihaan Samat, Kavya Trehan, Sumukhi Suresh, Udit Arora, Lisa Mishra, and Luke Kenny.

When asked about the evolving landscape for Indian series on global platforms like Netflix, Nandy stresses the importance of cultural authenticity. “I think what we have to do as content creators out of India, at least, is that we have to put India somewhere front and center in the content that we make,” she states. “Every time that we do that, we’ll be able to take something that’s internal to an external world and not just ape the Western world.”

“A lot of the content that’s being made today is similar tonally, to what the world is making. And that’s where a show like ‘The Royals’ stands out, because you are talking about royalty, but you’re talking about Indian royalty that technically doesn’t exist,” she continues. The series offers viewers worldwide a glimpse into “the world of palaces… and the inner corridors of 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, took about a year and a half to write, Nandy reveals. “What we’re always hoping for, and our end game, is to get another season. So if you don’t have memorable characters, characters that you want to welcome into your house… you’re not going to ever land up enjoying a show.”

This attention to creating well-rounded characters has helped PNC attract top talent. “Actors actually love coming on board, because there is so much meat that they can dig themselves into, and so much fun that they can have with those characters,” Nandy explains.

Reflecting on PNC’s evolution since its inception, Nandy notes that their core approach hasn’t changed dramatically. Their early films like “Chameli,” “Jhankaar Beats,” “Pyaar Ke Side Effects,” and “Shaadi Ke Side Effects” were “never traditional Bollywood products” but found success as multiplexes emerged, allowing them to reach “a slightly more contemporary audience in the cities.”

“I feel the content we’ve made was always talking to a larger, maybe a wider world. That, in fact, was a handicap then and now that is our biggest asset,” she observes.

As for the future, “I’m still going to be living in the palaces of India,” Nandy says regarding potential plans for a second season. “There’s nothing as beautiful as India. I think we haven’t told enough Indian stories set in India. We are always running off abroad somewhere, and there’s a lot to be told over here.”

“The Royals” is streaming now on Netflix worldwide.