'The Royals': Bhumi Pednekar’s debut web series set for OTT release; find details

Bhumi Pednekar is set to headline Netflix’s upcoming romantic comedy The Royals, a glitzy tale of legacy, love and ambition set against the backdrop of a crumbling Indian monarchy. She plays the female lead as Sophia Shekar, and the plot revolves around how, being an outsider among royals, she navigates her way through a powerful Indian family.

Bhumi's role as a CEO is about saving the family from the verge of bankruptcy. Along with Aviraaj Singh, played by Ishaan Khatter, she turns his royal residence into a luxury heritage hotel. The plot is spiced with comedy, romance and drama.

The Saandh Ki Aankh actor draws a parallel to The Royals with a mix of Bridgerton and Schitt's Creek, highlighting the rather dysfunctional dynamics of most royal families. She described the web series as a classic boy-girl romance, reminiscing how she grew up reading romance novels and was still a big fan of it.

Besides the romance and the elaborate sets in The Royals, the storyline also bring in aspects like entitlement, social standing and financial status among a certain class of people. The cast also includes Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Chunky Panday, Vihaan Samat, Kavya Trehan, Sumukhi Suresh, Udit Arora, Lisa Mishra and Luke Kenny.

Singer-turned-actor Lisa Mishra who plays Sophia's colleague Nikki, makes her acting debut in The Royals. She said the role was more than an acting debut and was in a way to honour her dad's dream.

The romantic comedy series is directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana and is set for a Netflix release on May 9.