Ishaan Khatter reacts to entourage cost debate in Bollywood: 'No one person should have...'

Ishaan Khatter has a balanced perspective on the discourse around the entourage accompanying actors, saying that he is neither in favour or against the idea of working with a support staff — it should be up to the artists. Khatter’s latest web series The Royals delivers a tongue-in-cheek take on the rising costs of actor entourages, which often add extra burden on film budgets.

"No one person should have enough people to burden an entire setup. There’s a good bit of tongue-in-cheek fun to have there. My personal experience has been very different on different sets. I've worked on A Perfect Couple, where I was literally my own everything, and I had no person with me. In setups like these, you’ve a lot of...we’re used to a lot of help. It can often be funny," Khatter told PTI.

The Royals, currently streaming on Netflix, stars Khatter as Aviraaj Singh, a reluctant new-age prince, and Bhumi Pednekar as Sophia Shekhar, a self-made CEO of a start-up, who team up to transform the former’s haveli into a luxury B&B experience. In the show's second episode, Khatter's character is seen talking about the many expensive hobbies of his royal family. He tells his younger brother, played by Vihaan Samat, "What about your entourage? It’s like you’re leading an election rally." To this, Samat's character replies, "My staff handles the work here which none of you can do."

As an actor, Khatter said he prefers not to have a manager on the set with him. "I prefer to just do the work mixed with the team. So, I' m not for or against, but definitely some discretion from the actor would be great," he said.

Samat, known for starring in Vikramaditya Motwane’s CTRL and Netflix's Mismatched, said though the show is inspired by several well-known titles, including The Crown and Bridgerton, its uniqueness lies in its rootedness in Indian culture. "There’s a mix of various shows that are already there, the time, the space, the characters, the context, the modernity, the Indian setting, but also mainly the comedic element and the way you treat these matters,", the actor said.

"We're going to make sure you have a laugh, make sure you can sit down, grab a bite and watch the show and have a good time. Rather than go back to your room and say, 'Oh, how terrible the British dynasty was.' There are elements of The Crown and many other shows that come into this show," he added.

The Royals is created by Rangita and Ishita Pritish Nandy and directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana. It also features veteran actor Zeenat Aman as well as Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Chunky Panday, Kavya Trehan, Sumukhi Suresh, Udit Arora, Lisa Mishra and Luke Kenny.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI

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