The ‘Royal falls for commoner’ trope is not new. In the Netflix show The Royals, creators Rangita Pritish Nandy and Ishita Pritish Nandy take this idea and hand it over to writers who squeeze every drop out of the cliche.
On paper, the idea of an heir to an aristocratic house in Rajasthan falling in love with a self-made CEO of a hospitality start-up could have been fun. Add stunning locales, a few clever casting choices and a whole lot of pomp and drama and conflicts and you have the basis for a romantic drama.
But that potential is not fully realised in The Royals. The eight-episode series is set in the fictitious Morpur, amidst the crumbling facades and fraying brocades of fading royalty.
Playboy and model Aviraaj “Fizzy” Singh (Ishaan Khatter) returns home for the reading of his father’s will. Yuvanath Singh (Milind Soman) – now resting in a garlanded frame (and seen in flashbacks) – is also the father of Digvijay “Diggy” (Vihaan Samat) and Divyaranjini “Jinnie” (Kavya Trehan).
The Morpur clan is, in fact, broke. Like her entitled children, the erstwhile queen Padmaja (Sakshi Tanwar) doesn’t quite know how to deal with Morpur’s dereliction. Grandmother Bhagyashree Devi (Zeenat Aman) is too pumped with intoxicants to care. Even Fizzy gifts his granny gummies.
Enter Sofia (Bhumi Pednekar), the successful co-founder of a company that allows commoners a chance to experience the life of royals. Before the business deal with Morpur can succeed, Sofia and Aviraaj must overcome the debacle of their first meeting – and their undeniable attraction to one another.
Directors Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana waste no time in objectifying Khatter, who is shirtless on a beach in his introduction scene. Khatter is often captured semi-clad – at a polo match, in his royal chambers, at a pool party, or simply hanging out. Sofia’s attraction to the charming Fizzy is understandable.
The reverse, less so: Sofia is stubborn, manipulative and impulsive. She pronounces ambitious money-making schemes but then wrings her hands helplessly when matters start going awry – unlike a competent CEO.
Writers Neha Veena Sharma, Vishnu Sinha and Iti Agarwal miss the opportunity to smartly explore gender politics at the workplace, inheritance laws (beyond a passing reference) and the complexity of duty, equality and agency for women in royal families. These themes are slightly more nuanced in the context of Fizzy’s reluctance to relinquish his individuality in order to play the dutiful king.
For a show like this to succeed, you need smoking-hot vibes between the lead actors and a crackling script that modernises and empowers classic themes. Neither holds true for The Royals.
As Sofia and Fizzy start working together – she for her business, he to save his ancestral home and the family’s opulent lifestyle – the dynamic between Pednekar and Khatter barely improves, settling down only much later, when the series finally rises above the pedestrian writing and plotting. Fizzy, Diggy and Jinnie too finally share a genuine moment of sibling bonding.
Modernising elements includes low-hanging fruit such as LGBTQ+ characters, a televised cooking contest and a boardroom coup. Each episode is pegged to a few smouldering looks, a few topless shots of Khatter and a childish misunderstanding between Fizzy and Sofia.
The casting is curious. Lisa Mishra and Sumukhi Suresh play Sofia’s aides. Addinath Kothare plays an investor and board member. Yashaswini Dayama plays Diggy’s cooking show co-contestant. The cast includes Luke Kenny.
Nora Fatehi is an odd choice for a Rajasthani princess, but at least she’s a worthy challenger to Khatter’s dance moves. Chunky Panday and Alyy Khan pop up in small but saucy roles. The idea of Zeenat Aman being back on screen is more appealing conceptually than in execution. Among the supporting cast, Dino Morea seems to be having the most fun as Salad, a single and foppish nobleman.
A chunk of the production budget was clearly reserved for the costume department, which gets the traditional looks right but misses the mark with modern and Western ensembles. Why does Diggy dress like a 1920s golfer in an argyle sweater and flat cap when he’s participating in a cooking contest?
Ishaan Khatter gives The Royals much-needed emotional depth, conviction and allure. You feel for him when he doubts his position on the throne, when he quietly misses his father, when he confronts his anxious mother, when he professes love, when he rides his favourite horse. Like the show deserved better clothes, Khatter deserved a better script.
