Netflix India recently took to their official social media handle to announce that Ishaan Khattar and Bhumi Pednekar’s starrer The Royals has been renewed for a new season. Despite facing criticism for various reasons, the makers are gearing up to take the story forward. Amidst the demand for a cast change from the netizens, Maharani Radhikaraje Gaekwad of Baroda took to her Instagram handle to criticise the misrepresentation of modern-day royal families in the Netflix show.
Penning a long note on her social media handle, she emphasised that many royals are active contributors to the Indian cultural and social landscape. Titling the post as “The Royal Ignore,” she expressed her disappointment in how the ladies in the royal families are portrayed onscreen. She expressed that stereotyping “Rajas soaked in whiskey and profligacy” and “Ranis in chiffons and pearls” was a propaganda that started post-independence. She added that it continues to define them to this date.
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Further highlighting the time Indian royals faced the abolition of allowance after they gave up their sovereignty in 1971, she took a dig at the show. Quoted by Indian Express, a part of her long note read, “India has also seen some of their finest statesmen, diplomats, wildlife conservationists, bureaucrats, army officers, educationists, sportsmen, hoteliers and entrepreneurs emerge from royalty and today our places, forts and museums are perhaps the last few sentinels of India’s undiluted, apolitical patronage and cultural history, all maintained in our personal capacity. Yet after all these decades, our own country continues to view us — all 565 families and a few thousand nobility, with an odd mixture of awe, ignorance, and distaste.”
Concluding her post, she hailed the “real Royals” for successfully running “India’s best known music festivals, museums, hotels, even constituencies and states.” She went on to also criticise Ishaan’s character in the film, “The young royals too are returning to their roots armed with degrees from universities around the world. They proudly staddle the two worlds, speak their mother tongue, wear their turbans but work to make their heritage sustainable, relatable, accessible. For they know if not them, no one else can.”
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Well, her post didn’t go down well with the netizens as they called her out for her “ahistorical and tone deaf” post. While many supported her views on the “shoddy TV show” that needs to be called out, others also asked her to take her “plea for sympathy elsewhere because frankly it reeks of elitist notions.”
For those who don’t know, The Royals follows the tale of Morpur’s royal family, who are crumbling under debt. It stars Ishaan Khatter, Bhumi Pednekar, Zeenat Aman, Nora Fatehi, and Sakshi Tanwar among many others. Directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana, the royal dramedy is written by Neha Veena Sharma. Created by Rangita Pritish Nandy and Ishita Pritish Nandy, it premiered on Netflix on May 9.