The Royals: Ishaan Khatter Says Zeenat Aman Deserved Royal Treatment on Set

The Royals, recently released on OTT, has been much awaited by fans due to its depiction of a royal and glamorous world, featuring a multi-starrer cast. The series, directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana, features Ishaan Khatter, Bhumi Pednekar, Vihaan Samat, Zeenat Aman, Nora Fatehi, Dino Morea, Chunky Pandey, and Sakshi Tanwar, amongst other prominent stars. Khatter, Pednekar, and Samat, joined by the extended cast of the series, spoke with IMDb in an exclusive interaction, sharing their experiences and behind the scene anecdotes that made their journey memorable.

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Speaking about his favourite memory from the sets, Khatter, said, “There are a few but the first one that comes to mind, it’s a bit of a highlight reel image. It was when we got to play polo, and it was shirtless for me, 12 hours a day in the scorching Rajasthan sun. Our polo ponies really supported us through two days as we were playing with actual polo professionals. It was a bit surreal, an out-of-the-body experience.” Samat added, “In a full field, with an audience, with horses being switched around but we don’t get switched out. We just have to keep going, it was lovely.”

Sharing what drew them towards the character and story, Khatter revealed, “It’s very entertaining, it’s glamorous, it’s sassy but at the same time, there is meat on the bones so to say, for every actor. There’s drama, there’s comedy, so it’s a little bit of everything for me. Aviraj was a very fascinating character for me to play because he’s one thing on the outside and quite another inside, as the show reveals.”

Pednekar shared, “What excited about my character Sophia and the show is that firstly, I love the genre. I love a good romance. I haven’t done much in the space, especially the kind of world that The Royals has created. It was an opportunity to break newer boundaries and challenge myself as an actor, so that definitely excited me a lot.”

Samat revealed, “I loved the character when I read it. I loved the world when I read it. My character, Diggy, is the younger brother of the royal family. He’s the younger son. He’s handling the palace and taking care of everything. He’s about to assume the mantle of being the leader of the family. It is a lot to play with. Things like this aren’t written. I got to ride on a horse, I got to make food, and I got to pretend to play a prince, so I had an amazing time.”

Discussing who needed the most royal treatment on the sets of The Royals, Khatter mentioned, “One who deserved it the most would be Zeenat Ji.”

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