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Onam Gupta
Onam Gupta has over 3.5 years of experience covering the entertainment and lifestyle beats extensively. She is currently focused primarily on entertainment. With a knack for asking the right questions ... Read More
Udit Arora has charmed us with his portrayal of Kunal Mehta in the recently released Netflix show The Royals. He portrayed Bhumi Pednekar’s ex-boyfriend-turned-co-founder for their organisation, Work Potato. While, the 8-episode series, has been praised by many but also faced some flax, hence, creating a lot of buzz ever since it began streaming.
Some felt that lead actors Ishaan Khatter and Bhumi Pednekar’s pairing was a misfit, while few felt that the storyline could have been better. Apart from this, another criticism that the series had faced was by the Heritage platform Royal Fables. The Royals is based on the fictional city of Morpur, where a royal family struggles financially after the King passes away.
Royal Fables called out the makers for presenting ‘false narratives’ about Indian royal families. In an impassioned Instagram post, “on behalf of the 565 princely states of India,” they accused the show for everything from misinterpretation to desecration of legacy.
In an exclusive interview with india.com, Udit broke silence on the backlash received by Royal Fables for presenting the show in a false manner. Stating that The Royals is fully a fictional form of art and shouldn’t be compared to real-life events, he said, “See at the end of the day, its just a fictional story and we have to pick up something, right. You can’t be comparing it to real-life like that, you know what I mean. Even if something based on a true story is dramatised, it is for entertainment purposes. It’s written in every show and film you see.”
Udit believes that now days, the shows are being sensationalised in a way to appeal more entertaining, even though it project real-life stories. In case of The Royals, he felt that it was a good parody on the lives of royal families. The actor said, “Even the documentaries that are coming out they are dramatised. So, I don’t know what these people are trying to look into this. Overall, I just want to say that The Royals was a satire on their lives, I see it like that. He added, “It was a good satire, I think these people are missing the point there, so they should look closely.”
When asked Udit whether he had any insecure moments, watching Ishaan and Bhumi as limelighters of the show, he said, “No, we worked on this show like a family. I don’t see it like that if something is more or something is less. Especially on this show, everyone including Ishaan and Bhumi, they have been very cooperative. And I feel, just doing justice to your character is what everyone tries to do on set. So that kind of insecurity comes with egos, and this set was surely not like that.”
About his character in The Royals, he calls him a complete ‘green forest’. He believes that his role of Kunal Mehta, Bhumi’s ex-boyfriend, possesses qualities of being ‘likeable, charming and attractive.’ In real life, Udit suggests that ‘You can be in touch with your ex, but you can’t be friends and definitely not business partners as shown in The Royals. It’s completely a different deal.”
Meanwhile, The Royals also feature Zeenat Aman, Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Chunky Panday, Vihaan Samat, Kavya Trehan, Sumukhi Suresh, Udit Arora, Lisa Mishra, and Luke Kenny. The rom-com series is directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana and created by Rangita Pritish Nandy and Ishita Pritish Nandy.
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