‘I Never Had To Deal With My Inhibitions’

It’s
not
every
evening
that
you
get
to
have
tea
with

The
Royals.

This
evening,
though,
one
did
as
Netflix
hosted a
regal
tea
party
for
the
media
at
Mumbai’s
Yash
Raj
Studios.

The
set
was
designed
like
a
large
dining
area
meant
for,
well,
royals.
Tables snaked
around
the
large
room;
a
stage
waited
patiently
at
one
side.

Strings
of
pearls
looped
in
and
out
of
crystal
bowls
that
had
been
filled
with
grapes
and
cashews.
Tea
stands
with
cookies
and
brownies
flirted
with
delicious-smelling
bouquets
of
roses
and
elegant
table
lamps.

Turbaned
ushers
welcomed
each
invitee
with
a
polite
“Khamma
ghani”
before
guiding
them
to
their
seats.

Servers
made
sure
that
glasses
of
cold
coffee,
guava
juice,
iced
tea
and
pomegranate
juice
arrived
at
a
steady
pace.

Zeenat
Aman
could
not
attend
the
event
but
she
started
the
show
with
a
warm
welcome
through
a
video.

Then,
the
curtains
hiding
the
stage
rose
and
we
were
introduced
to

The
Royals.

Sakshi
Tanwar
was
dressed
like
the
Maharani
she
plays
in
the
show.
She
strolled
down
the
stage
and
around
the
large
room
before
casually
gifting
pearls
to
a
lucky
journalist.

A
swashbuckling
Dino
Morea,
who
plays
a
sexy
flirt,
was
next;
he
walked
with
a
rose
on
his
mouth,
which
was
quickly
given
to
a
pretty
face.

Directors
Priyanka
Ghose
and
Nupur
Asthana
enjoyed
the
spotlight
as
did
Writer
Neha
Veena
Sharma,
who
got
a
seat
at
the
table
too,
indicating
how
times
have
truly
changed
for
the
real
heroes
of
entertainment.

Bhumi
Pednekar
and
Ishaan
Khatter
—
who
headline
this
interesting
cast
—
arrived
last.

Bhumi,
looking
like
a
dream
in
a
white
gown,
indulged
in
some

nok-jhok
with
the
dapper
Ishaan,
giving
everyone
a
live
demo
of
what
they
could
expect
from

The
Royals.

So
what

can
you
expect
from
the
romantic
OTT
series that’s
coming
to
your
screens
on
May
9?

Rediff’s
Ronjita
Kulkarni
introduces
you
to
the
characters.

Bhumi
Pednekar
plays
the
‘haute
boss
babe’,
Sophia;
Sophia’s
not
royal,
not
in
the
traditional
sense.

“Mujhe
dengue

tha,
mein
hospital

mein
thi
when Tanya
(Bami,
Netflix
head)
called
me
and
told
me,
there’s
this
thing,
it’s
a
romance.

Maine
bukhaar
mein
Royals

padna
shuru
kiya,”
Bhumi
says.

“And
I
just
couldn’t
stop!
I
remember
telling
my
team
—
can
I
get
another
episode?

Ek
aur
episode.
Ek
aur
episode.

Yeh
kar
kar
ke,
maine
poori
series

padh
li.

“The
show
gave
me
a
chance
to
play
around
with
my
wardrobe
and
makeup,
which
I
love
so,
so
deeply.
You
know,
I’ve
never
chased
playing
an
urban
girl
or
a
character
that’s
away
from
what
I
usually
do.
I
always
go
for
scripts.
When
this
show
came
my
way
—
I
love
a
romance!
—
I
realised
that,
at
the
core,
it’s
so
sensitive,
so
progressive.

“There
are
such
beautiful
characters.
Everybody
who
watches
this
show
is
going
to
find
a
representation
and
that’s
why
I
did
it.

“It’s
a
rom-com
but
the
romance
that
Sophia
and
Aviraj
have
is
so
classic
that
it’s
going
to
give
you
butterflies
in
your
stomach.
It
will
also
make
you
tear
up
a
little.

“I
have
had
a
lot
of
crutches
(in
my
earlier
films),
right?
Like
a
kind
of
a
dialect
or
a
costume.
I
would
be
so
away
from
Bhumi.
I
never
had
to
deal
with
my
inhibitions,
what
I’m
uncomfortable
about
meeting
in
myself
through
my
characters.

“But
Sophia
is
so
close
to
who
I
am.
Her
ideology,
her
faith,
the
things
that
she
believes
in,
her
passion…
She
has
fire
and
I
think
I
have
a
lot
of
fire
within
me.

“Here,
I
had
to
be
comfortable
with
the
fact
that
there
would
be
aspects
of
Bhumi
that
would
be
in
Sophia
and
that
is
okay.
I
had
to
make
peace
with
the
fact
that
the
audience
might
see
a
very
real
part
of
me.
While
it
takes
a
lot
of
confidence
and
a
lot
of
like
prepping,
it’s
actually
therapeutic.”

Ishaan
Khattar
plays
Aviraj
or
the
‘Rajkumar
of
sizzle’

“On
the
face
of
it,
this
is
a
very
bingeable,
snackable,
fun
show
with
all
the
fluff,
the
fun
and
the
shimmer.
But
as
you
go
deeper,
you
start
seeing
the
inner
world
of
these
characters.
And
you
start
seeing
the
cracks. And
there
is
meat
on
the
bone.
As
an
actor,
that
was
very
exciting
for
me,”
Ishaan
says.

“I
had
a
very
inspiring
team
of
wonderful
women,
which
seems
to
be
a
recurring
theme
in
my
career.
I
think
more
than
50
percent
of
my
collaborators
—
in
the
roles
of
directors,
cinematographers
—
have
been
women.”

Ishaan
learnt
horse
riding
for
his
role
as
a
prince.

“We
were
told
that
we
have
two-and-a-half
months
to
become
polo
prodigies.
Happy
to
report
that
my
brother
(played
by
Vihaam
Samrat)
and
I
did
the
training
and
then
did
all
our
stunts
ourselves.
So
we’re
horse
riders
now.
And,
now,
I
ride
for
passion.”

Ishaan
goes
on
to
say,
“The
show
is
a
very
fresh
take
on
a
royal
and
a
commoner.
I
have
been
saying
for
a
long
time
that
I
want
to
be
a
part
of
love
stories.
I
only
got
to
do
one
tragic
love
story
in
the
beginning
of
my
career;
seven
years
have
passed
before
I
got
this
opportunity.”

Sakshi
Tanwar
plays
‘Mayhem
Maharani’

“For
the
longest
time,
I
have
played
characters
that
have
been
on
the
other
(common)
side
of
the
table,”
Sakshi
says,
who
was
seen
last
year
in

Ulajh
and

Sharmajee
Ki
Beti. This
is
the
first
time
I
got
to
see
this
(royal)
life.

“I
have
not
seen
this
in
real
life.
I
come
from
a
very
basic
background
and
since
I
have
played
characters
that
were
close
to
my
background,
it
never
took
me
any
preparation
to
portray
them.

“When
I
was
told
about
this
character,
I
thought,
no,
this
can’t
be
true.
Only
my
mom
had
ever
considered
me
a

rani
(queen).

“I
was
very
conscious
during
my
first
scene
because
I
don’t
know
how
royals
think.
I
had
no
reference
point.
I
was
very
uncomfortable
because
I
was
like,
no,
I’m
not
getting
it
right.
I
had
to
stop
thinking
like
who
I
am
and
start
thinking
like
who
I
should
be.
And
that’s
what
I
did.

“My
makeup
was
very
different.

“Rangita
(Nandy,
Producer)
would
insist
I
wear
red
lipstick
and
I
would
be
like,
no,
please
let
me
go
with
the
neutral
shades.

“The
jewellery
and
the
costumes
also
did
their
magic
because,
when
you
wore
them
—
the
diamonds
especially
—
it
sent
a
message
to
my
brain
that,
oh,
you’re
a
queen.
I
just
carried
that
message
with
me
when
I
went
on
the
set.”

Chunky
Panday
plays
a
‘sweet
charmer’

“I’m
the
self-proclaimed
king
of
comedy,”
Chunky
grinned.

“In
fact,
in
college,
I
was
called
‘Your
Highness’…
because
I
was
always
high!”
he
said
with
a
laugh,
then
quickly
added,
“I’m
joking,”
in
his
signature
style.

“The
first
time
I
met
a
royal,
I
didn’t
know
whether
to
shake
his
hand,
do

namaste
or
touch
his
feet.
And
I
thought

hukum
was
his
first
name
because
everyone
kept
calling
him
“Hukum“.
So
I
asked
him,
“Hukum,
what’s
your
surname?

“In
this
show,
I
tried
to
do
a
little
bit
of
overacting.
But
then
this
beautiful
team
of
women
controlled
me
and
said,
“Relax.
You’re
not
in

Housefull;
you’re
in The
Royals.
They
had
a
leash
and
I
was
being
controlled
but
I
really
enjoyed
it.”

Vihaan
Simrat
plays
the
‘peppery
prodigal
prince’

“I’ve
played
characters
before
that
are
a
bit
more
chill.
This
time,
I
wanted
to
do
something
that
was
meatier,”
said
Vihaan.

“You’ve
seen
stuff
(in
the
trailer)
where
I’m
yelling
and
screaming
and
beating
a
(dead)
chicken
on
the
ground.

“I
enjoyed
playing
polo.
My
horse,
Charlie,
was
my
best
friend
for
two-and-a-half
months.
I
saw
him
more
than
I
saw
my
own
family.”

Kavya
Trehan
plays
the
princess
and
‘Miss
Zingy
Stylista’

“I
was
very,
very
excited
when
I
first
got
to
know
about
the
makers,
the
cast.
I
come
from
a
household
of
only
women
—
there’s
mom,
sister,
cats,
they’re
women,
and
dogs,
even
they’re
women,”
she
said.

“But
here,” she
added
with
a
laugh,
“I
found
myself
a
pair
of
brothers!”

Dino
Morea
plays
a
‘smoky
stud’

“I’m
Nawab
Salahuddin
but
you
can
call
me
Salad,”
Dino
said
and
raked
in
the
laughs.

“He’s
a

nawab
and
a
flirt.
He’s
chivalrous
and
charming,
crazy
and
whacked-up.”