Movie Review: The Royals Interest Quotient

Starring: Mohit Verma, Ishaan Khatter, Bhumi Pednekar, Nora Fatehi, Zeenat Aman, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Chunky Pandey

Direction: Priyanka Ghose, Nupur Asthana

A sustained performance of immense value emanating from a young actor marks the interest quotient of the eight-episode ‘The Royals’ on Netflix. Directors Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana fail to sustain interest or pack the episodes with high-octane happenings, and the story by multiple writers falters. Considering the title, ‘The Royals’, the sets are pleasant on the eye and ever so often the visual effects are amazing. The camera and costumes departments (Mohitha Pandey and Swetha Sharma) give the series credibility which the makers or the story writers fail to do.

A chance encounter between Sophia (Bhumi Pednekar) and Prince Aviraaj (Ishaan Khatter) on the seashore of Sri Lanka starts off predictably on the wrong note. Sophia is the ambitious CEO of the hospitality firm Work Potato. She finds it hard to convince her board about her proposal to convert an old palace into a hotel. The board headed by Zubin Daruwala (Adinath Kothari) is extremely cynical of the project. Even the seed money is difficult to raise.

The Murpur palace, like the ‘Bhool Bulaiya’ palace, has more past than present. The grand lady, Maji Sahiba Bhagya Sree (Zeenath Aman), is an aristocrat who knows that the palace is living precariously on borrowed time. Raj Matha Padmaja (Sakshi Tanwar) has lost her husband Maharaja Yuvnath Singh (Milind Soman). The family has the testament of Yuvanath Singh read out to notice that each of the palaces is divided among the two sons, Digvijay (Vihaan) and crown prince Aviraaj. Daughter Divyaranjini (Kavya Trehan) is bequeathed a mahal. The royal family is running dry of cash when Sophia and her colleague Kunal Mehta (Udit Arora) come up with the project to lease the property as a hotel.

The twists and turns, most often fake, take us to the finale that does not warrant eight episodes. This includes a very contrived love story with Aisha (Nora Fatehi). In keeping with the grammar of OTT films, huge dollops of sex and vulgarity are super-imposed on the storytelling. The ease with which an ambitious CEO heads to bed is lacking in authenticity. Sometimes the film peters into a lingerie and torso display.

The fights between the two company directors at the launch show the abysmal homework on authenticity. Multiple characters like Ranjit Shroff (Shankit Pandey), Nawab Salauddin (Dina Moriya) and Maharaja of Dhodi (Ali Khan) walk in and walk out with zero credibility. While Zeenath Amam oozes confidence, Vihaan Samanth and Udit Arora come up with credible performances. Sumukhi Suresh as Keerthana is interesting.

The series relies heavily on Bhumi Pednekar, who is just over the top. The homework is lacklustre. She tries too hard and falls flat. There is no reason why her character is so poorly edged and interpreted. That is the cause for the major undoing of the series. In contrast Ishaan Khatter is brilliant. As the shirtless sultan, as the arrogant prince, as the irresponsible inheritor he brings great authenticity and spirt to the film. No wonder he is nicknamed ‘Fizzy’. The scene of a meltdown at the swimming pool and his tears at the coronation are true positives of the dynamo of this actor.

Get straight to the final two episodes and that is all the series is worth.