Vihaan Samat reveals The Royal casting process took five months

Vihaan Samat

From The Crown to Bridgerton, shows based on royalty are having quite the moment. Closer home, actor Vihaan Samat says that he was always keen to try his hand at such a series. Luckily, in came The Royals. The actor says he landed the Netflix series - led by Zeenat Aman, Bhumi Pednekar, and Ishaan Khatter - over a five-month process. "It was a long casting process [that began] in August-September 2023 and things got finalised only in January or February. Mine is a sensitively written role. In the initial meetings, we discussed the character and where we wanted to take it," recalls Samat, who recently tasted success with Call Me Bae.

Touted to be a regal romantic comedy, The Royals has been largely shot at palaces in Rajasthan. Samat says that it was only when they began filming in the majestic palaces and exquisite settings that it struck him that he was part of something larger-than-life. "The realisation sunk in only when we were on the set. I remember we were shooting a scene depicting a grand event, and I was just looking around the set while the crew was readying the shot. I saw the red walls, an elephant in the corner, people dressed up regally, and I wondered to myself, ‘Where am I?'"