Ishaan Khatter talks about the 'daunting task' of learning polo in few weeks for The Royals: 'Had to play it like a pro'

Ishaan Khatter talks to HT about his upcoming Netflix show, The Royals, and how he prepared to play a prince.

Actor Ishaan Khatter has played a wide variety of roles in his career, but stepping into the shoes of royalty is something new for him. In his upcoming Netflix series, The Royals, the actor plays a prince. Talking to HT about the role and how OTT differs from films, Ishaan opens up about the show.

Ishaan Khatter plays a prince on the Netflix show, The Royals.

Ishaan Khatter on The Royals

His character Aviraj may be worlds away from Ishaan but the actor says he could find similarities between them. "We're both very emotionally intense people. Aviraj bottles things up while I try to do better, hopefully as I am getting emotionally older. I defintely couldn't relate to his desperate need to run away from him. I don't need to escape," says Ishaan.

But preparing for the role had its own set of challenges, admits the actor, adding, "Learning polo and appearing to play it like a pro in the short span of two and a half months was the first impossible task that was put ahead for me. It was very daunting and scary. Now that we have completed the task, I am happy to report that we really managed to get as good as I possibly could. It was a whole lot of fun."

How OTT differs from films

Ishaan has worked on streaming shows before, starring in A Suitable Boy. He agrees that the longer runtime of longform content allows actors to do more, but still finds the limitations of films more challenging. "The thing with shows is that there is more runtime to play with. That means you can really detail your character's arc. It begins with the writing but the format allows for a deeper investigation into all characters, especially in an ensemble like Royals. The challenge is where you have a limited runtime. Then it's about how aptly and deeply you are able to communicate more layered things in that short space. That takes another level of artistry and craft," he tells us.

The Royals stars Bhumi Pednekar opposite Ishaan, and boasts of a large ensemble cast, including Zeenat Aman, Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Chunky Pandey, Vihaan Samat, and Sumukhi Suresh, among others. The show premieres on Netflix on May 9.