Mumbai: During an exclusive chat with The "The Royals" cast, including Ishaan Khatter, Bhumi Pednekar, Vihaan Samat, Kavya Thirani, and Lisa Mishra, discuss their experiences. Ishaan and Bhumi share what drew them to the show, while Vihaan, Kavya, and Lisa talk about navigating performances amidst the show's polished aesthetic. Ishaan reflects on working with legends like Zeenat Aman and Majid Majidi, and Bhumi discusses her decade-long passion for films.
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#IshaanKhatter #BhumiPednekar #VihaanSamat #KavyaTehran #LisaMishra #TheRoyals #StarCast #ExclusiveInterview #Trending #BollywoodNews #BollywoodGossips #BollywoodUpdates #BollywoodNews #Bollywood #Bollywoodcelebrity #BollywoodHindiNews #ians
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00:00I want to start off by asking Bhoomi and Ishaan, what was it about this show, this title that kind of drew you towards the narrative and your characters? Anyone can take the lead instead.
00:10I've not done something like this before. This world and this genre is kind of new to me and I'm constantly looking to do parts that kind of question my body, not question my body, hope.
00:22No, that helped me break through whatever kind of boundaries I've created and this part definitely was up there. Also, it's a very bharahua show, you know, there is love, there's romance, there's drama, tons of comedy.
00:43Great production design.
00:43Great, absolutely. It's a great looking show with great looking people and yet there are really meaty performance parts and that's so rare and that's why I jumped on this opportunity.
00:54And Ishaan?
00:56Same, everything she said, I...
00:59But also, the character.
01:10No, but it was. So, I think this is the quickest I've read a series of scripts. I got six to eight episodes and I read them basically over the weekend, took me one and a half days and that was a testament to how bingeable this show is and the endeavor was to take that and one up it and really deliver a show that's juicy, you know, for the lack of a better expression, but we've been getting that a lot.
01:35But it's, you know, it's a rare confluence of comedy and drama and, you know, glamour and substance and character and, you know, as you go deeper into the show, you delve deeper into the inner world of these characters.
01:52And for me, I found Aviraj's character very, very, very, very beautiful and very meaty as a part and something that I've never done before, the kind of presentation I've never received before.
02:03And so, I think it was the right time for me to explore this space and, yeah, I was all guns blazing to have a crack at it.
02:11And my next question is for the three of you, Lisa, Veehan, and Gavia. In a show which, where everything is so predominantly, for the lack of a better word, good looking, you know, it concentrates so much on the beauty of the characters through the narrative storytelling and, of course, what we see on screen in terms of the production design, the color correction, the visuals in the entirety.
02:33How do you navigate that and still focus on the performances and not let that kind of overpower the beauty not good or don't let the beauty overpower your performances?
02:44I think I kind of trust the team to do what they are known for and what they're good at.
02:50So, the hair and makeup and the styling team, they all come together and put their A-game forward and they're here for a reason and they'll do their best.
02:57Of course, we'll discuss it and we'll talk about it and we'll discuss it with the directors.
03:01But there's a lot of eyes looking at the screen and thankfully, if they know what they're doing and they do know what they're doing, you can be left to do what you do best.
03:08I think I'm probably the junior most actor in our cast and for me, it was just a privilege to be on set amongst some of the best actors in the country.
03:19So, I took the job seriously.
03:21I think it was a very serious role for me to play because of the caliber of acting around me.
03:29So, I remembered every single day to wake up and be cognizant of the fact that I get to share space with all of you guys.
03:35And Kavya?
03:36And very selfishly, the beauty of the space, the clothes, the makeup contributed to Ginny's character.
03:43So, I just kind of leaned into it.
03:45I would come in these rag clothes and then change and it would impact my attitude towards what was happening.
03:51So, I think the beauty was a very important tool and seeing something beautiful and also seeing the complexities is really what you as a viewer will take away and as a person who played Ginny has taken away as well.
04:08So, I think it had to be beautiful.
04:10And Ishan, you started your journey with Beyond the Clouds, one of my favorite films of yours, I must say.
04:18What I observe and see in your filmography, there are a lot of brave choices and still you kind of navigate your way through it.
04:27I mean, Majid Majidi, first one, this you're working with a legend like Zenith Amanji.
04:32Tell me, how does it kind of, how does it working with these legends cast a shadow on your performance or how does it make it better or enhance your performance, so to say?
04:42I think the only way to look at it is it's an opportunity to seek and learn and hopefully have some of that, you know, genius energy rub off on you and the beauty of what they do.
04:54Before I started doing any of what I did, I was an audience.
05:00Before I was an audience, I was just a human being, an observer, and I think observing is probably the first step to being an artist and to being an actor.
05:10So, I think I've been very lucky to be able to observe some, you know, veterans at their craft making art and it's influenced who I want to be as an artist in a very big way.
05:25And I was very lucky to bring it back to, you know, my first film.
05:30I was very lucky to start with someone like Majidi because he really set the foundation for me as an actor.
05:36And all the things that I wanted to be and all the things that I desired as an artist, he gave me the nudge in that direction and reassured me that, yes, this is your path and it's okay.
05:48And the first thing that, and I always cite this example, the first thing that he ever told me as a performer, as an actor, as his leading man in the film was,
06:00I know that you want to be a great actor, but focus on becoming the human being first and everything you want will come from there.
06:09And so that's the best advice I ever received.
06:12And I'm very lucky to be with some amazing human beings who are also great artists.
06:17And taking from, you know, you mentioned that, you know, you have to be a great observer to kind of, you know, build your entire work or your art form around it.
06:25When you observe things around you simply when you're imbibing from your surroundings, has it ever happened to you that you're immediately inspired,
06:31your creative impulses are immediately triggered and then sort of, you know, kind of blowed your way that that creative impulse has blocked your way to further observation?
06:42Has it ever happened to you?
06:44I don't think creative impulses blocked my way to further observation.
06:50I think if you get set in a way and bring about a certain rigidity in your approach, that this is the only way to do this,
06:58that can often block your observation and your, just your openness to, you know, the abundance that is out there.
07:08You know, as, as an artist, I think, I mean, not to get too philosophical and, you know, sound like I'm, whatever, being disingenuous,
07:16but I think you're a vessel and I think the most beautiful moments that happen, you don't really know how they happen.
07:23It's just because you're tuned into a certain frequency, you know, and that's the craft and that's the work it takes to reach that point where you allow it to happen through you.
07:33And that takes a lot of preparation. But I think essentially it's, yeah, it's being a person first that allows you to be an actor.
07:44And Bhoomi, a decade in films, if I'm not wrong, 10 years into the, you know, in your cinematic journey.
07:53A lot of experimental choices I have seen in your filmography, starting from Damnalaga Kehaisha, then King Toilet, and then something as Royals now.
08:01What is it that ignites your passion, that fuels your passion in the longer run as a performer, as an artist?
08:06I think I just want to be a part of stories that are meaningful and give me an opportunity to do diverse kind of roles that gives me an opportunity to challenge whatever my thinking is,
08:23because, you know, as humans, it's very limited and stories and cinema most times has helped me expand my world and my universe.
08:32Yes. Along the last decade, I think because of the opportunities that I had and because of the stories that I've done, it's humbled me deeply as a person.
08:43I am a Bombay born and bred girl. I could have never imagined playing somebody who is from Chambal or Morena and everything that that girl went through made me a better person.
08:57And those are the kind of stories that I want to do. Stories that humble me, stories that let the empathy in me only grow and give me an opportunity to truly, truly challenge myself.
09:08I love what I love what I do. I wanted to be an actor. From the day I realized what being an actor on screen is, it is liberating to me. It is my oxygen. It is just, I can't explain it. It is all I know. And this is all I want to do.
09:25Okay. And the next question is for the three actors. You know, I recently read a report that, you know, many of the writers in Hindi cinema, they are particularly struggling monetarily.
09:34Yeah, I read that.
09:35You know, the cost structures have changed because of the uncertainty when it was post the pandemic. Lots of writers, they have kind of left the bomb where they are seeking swallies in cities where, you know, the cost of living is relatively low.
09:51In such a scenario, do you think there's a need for an urgent course correction in our industry with regards to, you know, how we structure our budgets or how we dole them out to different departments in the industry?
10:02Anyone can take the lead?
10:03I think we come from the music industry and the way that we do it, they're starting to touch wood now is revenue shares and royalty splits. And I think we still lack a union.
10:15That's what I'm saying. That's literally what I was going to say next is that once we get to a point of standardizing ownership over what creators are, you know, owed, that's the dream.
10:26You get to a point that, you know, your rights are protected, you're credited fairly, there's a minimum wage, a standard of living, health care that needs to be built in. Musicians struggle with that even in the most developed parts of the world.
10:40Yeah.
10:40So ideally, it's not just that what's on the pay stub, right? It's survivability goes beyond what's on the paycheck.
10:49A hundred percent. And I feel like it's just, I don't like the idea of normalizing how artistic careers can be exploited easily. It's just a mindset that needs to change. This paradigm is too stuck.
11:00Mm-hmm. And Bhumi, very correct. She was really correct in saying it's in the policies. It's in the legitimate action of knowing where your backbone lies and where can you go if you are being, if wrongdoing is happening. So, I mean, I can only speak as a musician. I hope that there is unions and same for acting.
11:24As for writing, yeah.
11:26As for writers, yeah.
11:27I think that you can get a good film despite a bad system. But it's way better and easier to get a film because of a good system.
11:36A hundred percent.
11:36Yeah.
11:37I think that there's a bunch of things that go down to the very core of maybe society and the way it functions at the moment. Certain things like how, what does having a lawsuit mean? What does taking someone to court mean? Where is the enforcement of a certain order?
11:51What are our leaders and our people in power doing? And do they respond to the word of law or do they respond to something else? These things need to be set first. I'm not saying they're not. But in certain times, sometimes they go astray.
12:06Once those are set, we can then say, okay, then therefore a contract is so much more important because if this, then this will happen. But now we just say, okay, it's whatever.
12:17Of course, as artists, we take everything we do very seriously, but the general consensus. Now that goes on to pay and unions, right? When they don't have all of that. I mean, I've worked for a year, a couple of years in the US and I just, I'm not saying we have to be like them, but there are certain things that work where if people feel like humans are being taken advantage of and labor is not valued, they all strike. That's not going to happen here.
12:39It's, I mean, it's not happening, but hopefully it will. But also we have, the reality is we have a lot of people and there's a whole system that's a different system.
12:47Now, on the matter of pay, I think that it's very important to structure how you assign certain values to certain things. Certain base limits, depending on the overarching institutions can be set from the union side and from the producer's guild or whatever sort of, you know, that might be.
13:08Of course, this is an idealistic thing. But the fact of the matter is we are trying to find, there are a bunch of good stories. There are a bunch of talented writers. It's just that there is a mismatch between the cost of being alive today and pursuing that.
13:28And then also having yourself fulfilled and all that kind of stuff. And the priorities need to change. I know a lot of producers saying that it's really important to pay the writers. And a lot of them agree. But this has to be a more widespread thing because this is where our storytelling comes from.
13:48Can I just say thank you for asking that? Because the conversation is what drives change. And as actors, we literally owe what we do to writers. So let's start with acknowledging and crediting. Let's start with that. You have to start somewhere.
14:08So let's start with bringing back the empowerment to writers without whom none of us would have a job. And also remember that there were men like Salim Javed back in the day who used to last write on the posters to remind people that look, this is where it all started. Right? So I mean, we should celebrate it. It's not like something that comes with pressure.
14:31We should celebrate this. We should celebrate this because the more love you give to them, you'll get that love back in stories. And that's what we need right now. We need writers.
14:39Yeah.
14:39Yeah. So Neha Veena Sharma, we love you. Thank you for writing Royals.
14:45Yeah.
14:45And shout out and shout out to the creators and the directors and everybody who made this show. We were happy to be in it.