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Time of India
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The Royals Season 2 OTT Release Update: When and where to expect return of Bhumi Pednekar & Ishaan Khatter's show
The Royals Season 2 OTT Release Update: Netflix's glitzy Indian rom-com is officially returning for a second season. The streamer confirmed the renewal on May 28, 2025, just weeks after the show's debut on May 9. While there's no confirmed release date yet, Netflix teased that Season 2 is 'coming soon'. When can we expect The Royals Season 2? As of now, Netflix has not announced an official release date for Season 2. However, given that Season 1 premiered on May 9, 2025, and the renewal was announced on May 28, 2025, it's reasonable to anticipate that Season 2 could arrive in mid to late 2026. Production timelines for Netflix series typically span several months, so fans might expect a release window around the same time next year. What was The Royals Season 1 about? Set in the fictional princely state of Morpur, The Royals follows Prince Aviraaj 'Fizzy' Singh (Ishaan Khatter), who inherits a crumbling palace and a mountain of debt after his father's death. Enter Sophia Shekhar (Bhumi Pednekar), a sharp, self-made CEO of a startup called Work Potato. She proposes transforming the palace into a luxury bed-and-breakfast to save the royal family from financial ruin. Their business partnership quickly turns into a romantic entanglement, complicated by family secrets, exes, and palace politics. The season ends with a bombshell: Fizzy is revealed to be the illegitimate son of Maharani Padmaja (Sakshi Tanwar), throwing the royal lineage into chaos. What to expect in The Royals Season 2? While plot details are under wraps, the creators have hinted at a more dramatic and extravagant second season. Rangita and Ishita Pritish Nandy, the show's creators, described Season 1 as a 'love letter to the romcom genre' and promised that Season 2 will be 'bigger, bolder, and even more fabulous,' with more 'fire, feisty banter, and a whole lot of drama'. Given the cliffhanger ending of Season 1, viewers can anticipate a deeper dive into the complexities of royal succession, family dynamics, and the evolving relationship between Fizzy and Sophia. Expected faces of The Royals Season 2 The main cast is expected to reprise their roles: Ishaan Khatter as Maharaj Aviraaj 'Fizzy' Singh, Morpur Bhumi Pednekar as Sophia Kanmani Shekhar, CEO of Work Potato Sakshi Tanwar as Maharani Padmaja 'Paddy' Singh, Morpur Zeenat Aman as Rajmata Maji Saheba Bhagyashree Devi Nora Fatehi as Ayesha Dhondi, Fizzy's ex Vihaan Samat as Yuvaraj Digvijay 'Diggy' Singh, Morpur Dino Morea as Nawab Salauddin 'Salad' Khan, Alsipur Milind Soman as former Maharaj Yuvanath Singh, Morpur The Royals is directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana, with writing credits to Neha Veena Sharma, Vishnu Sinha, and Iti Agarwal. It is produced by Pritish Nandy Communications.
Scroll.in
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘The Royals' review: All dressed up with nowhere to go
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. Play
