Bhumi Pednekar exits The Royals, will not return to Ishaan Khatter show after makers decide to junk romance angle

Bhumi Pednekar and Ishaan Khatter headlined the first season of Netflix's The Royals, but the former won't return for season 2.

Even as the second season of Netflix’s The Royals begins production, a major cast change has taken place. A recent report claims that Bhumi Pednekar, one of the two leads in the first season, will not be returning for season 2. The show is being transformed from a romantic comedy to a family drama now, the report adds.

Ishaan Khatter and Bhumi Pednekar in The Royals.

Bhumi Pednekar quits The Royals

Mid-Day reported on Sunday that Bhumi has exited The Royals, as the makers do not want to continue with the romantic subplot and instead focus on the dynamics of the royal family, including Ishaan Khatter, Zeenat Aman, and Sakshi Tanwar. “When you do a romance, it is the story that leads. When the show came out, what resonated [with the audience] was the family — Ishaan, Sakshi, Zeenat, and the world of The Royals — which feels different. We left season one with an unresolved romance. There was no decision to carry it forward. There was no fight with Bhumi. The makers are simply letting the story lead forward organically in the second season,” the report quoted a source as saying.

The report added that Bhumi is now looking at more layered, intense roles in a different genre. She is set to return as a troubled cop in the second season of Amazon Prime Video’s Daldal and co-star alongside Imran Khan in his comeback film for Netflix. “Bhumi is also set to feature opposite Imran Khan in what insiders describe as his long-awaited comeback film for Netflix. The project, currently under wraps, has been in development for some time. She is also expected to begin working on Daldal 2, a project that aligns more closely with the intense space she has increasingly gravitated towards in recent years,” the source added.

All about The Royals

A romantic drama centred around an erstwhile royal family, The Royals was one of Netflix’s most-watched shows of 2025, despite receiving middling reviews and a lot of criticism for its performances. Bhumi starred as a startup founder who teams up with a prince (Ishaan) to use his palace for their hospitality business. The actor had admitted in interviews that the show's criticism had forced her to take a break and led her to doubt herself. The second season was greenlit days after the release of season 1.

There are no details about the returning cast for The Royals, or when the second season will release on Netflix.