The Royals, the Netflix version, that is, has elicited an elegant and timely repartee from a ‘real’ maharani about what bona fide royals were and are. Radhikaraje Gaekwad, wife of the ‘Maharaja’ of the erstwhile princely state of Baroda (and daughter of a ‘maharajkumar’ of Wankaner) ended her riposte with, “Yet after all these decades, our country continues to view us—all 565 families and a few thousand nobility—with an odd mixture of awe, ignorance and distaste."

Spot on! Indeed, the only redeeming feature of Netflix’s version of royals is Ishan Khattar as Aviraaj Singh, ‘Maharaja’ of the fictional Morpur. Even his nickname Fizzy is what seasoned royal watchers might consider a clever inclusion because it not only encapsulates his effervescent on-screen persona but also harks back to ‘Bubbles’, the late Maharaja of Jaipur Brigadier Bhawani Singh, whose flamboyant young grandson Padmanabh (‘Pacho’) Singh is the current ‘ruler’.

But the rest of the series is a mishmash of what Bollywood thinks the lives of Indian royals are—or were. It’s as if the writer(s) pored over back-issues of Hello! and Marwar to cobble together a storyline for a couture and interiors promo. Sadly, while it was filmed in ‘real’ palaces, The Royals’ clothes, ceremonial or while partying (apparently their sole occupation) were hardly aristocratic—Abu-Sandeep at best. And SoBo English did not make them to the mahal born.

Even so, this series offers a good reason to take a proper look at the progress of Indian royalty in democratic India in the past eight decades. Cinema in socialist India immortalised the trope of wicked, licentious feudal rajas, taluqdars and zamindars living off the sweat and tears of their suffering praja (subjects), taking advantage of poor women and spending lavish amounts on hunting, gambling, alcohol and any other debauched habit that screenwriters could conjure up.

Now, with being rich becoming cool again in post-socialist, liberalised India, feudal scions are shown in fast cars with arm candy or flaunting gowns and jewels, albeit more in society and fashion magazines rather than on the silver screen. One point that the Netflix series gets right—but........

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