A sweeping palace bathed in golden-hour light sees a self-made startup queen storm into a room of chandeliers in a sharp pantsuit. At the other end, a prince in a royal bandhgala looks on. When we sat down with Aastha Sharma, that’s the picture she painted for us of The Royals — Netflix India’s newest offering. “Think what happens when royalty is reimagined with a distinctly modern swagger....” she says.

In the buzzy romantic dramedy created by Rangita and Ishita Pritish Nandy, Bhumi Pednekar plays Sophia, a fiery entrepreneur who falls for Ishaan Khatter’s Prince Aviraj. And in the most inspired casting coup of recent times, Zeenat Aman graces the screen as the matriarch, while the ensemble is packed with names like Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, and Lisa Misra, among others. Known for dressing red carpet queens like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Kiara Advani, Sharma’s work here is character architecture. “When people hear ‘royals’, they think of heavy silks and stiff embroidery. But I kept asking myself: what would a 2025 Maharani wear to brunch?” Sharma says.