‘Self-Empowerment Is Everybody’s Right’: Ishaan Khatter

The actors from Netflix’s The Royals, Bhumi Pednekar, Ishaan Khatter, Lisa Mishra, Sumukhi Suresh, Vihaan Samat, Kavya Trehan, sat down with The Quint to talk about their show, who they would want to swap characters with, what they would do if they woke up as royalty, & more.

“If I was a queen for one day, I would not allow any kind of activity at comedy clubs – only comedy and the audience,” Sumukhi Suresh said. Speaking of what she would do if she woke up as a queen, Trehan said, “If I woke up as a queen, I would provide every creative individual – actor, director, dancer, musician – a global VISA so they can work from anywhere in the world. They wouldn’t have to do any paperwork. It’s just, ‘You have chosen a creative path, let’s make it easy for you.’”

A dialogue in The Royals talks about the protagonist’s tendency to drown out his ‘inner noise’ with the ‘outer’. When the cast was asked if they’ve had to ‘protect the inner voice’, Samat said, “Some time ago I had a bit of a mental health struggle and I think what I learned to do was understand where the beliefs I have of myself and the things I say or do were limiting my possibilities.”

“I think just as actor or somebody in the public eye, you’re constantly dealing with so many opinions, especially with the kind of work that I do where I’m constantly questioning the status quo,” Bhumi Pednekar added, “So if you go through my Instagram comments, they’re very colourful.”