Accuracy woes: Netflix's 'The Royals' faces strong criticism from art exhibition curator Anshu Khanna
Netflix's new series 'The Royals', featuring Ishaan Khatter and Bhumi Pednekar, has sparked controversy on social media. Some praised its satirical tone while others slammed it for being objectionable and misrepresenting Indian royalty.
Anshu Khanna, the creator of Royal Fables, an exhibition which celebrates the heritage of Princely India, took to Instagram to express her thoughts on this Netflix show. In her Instagram post, claims to speak on behalf of the 565 Princely states of India, explaining that the way royalty is represented in the series is poorly illustrated and jarringly misrepresented.
The show centres around a royal family in debt, to which Anshu responds: “Royal families are not POOR”.
She also criticises the portrayal of the royal women—shown as merely ornamental figures who sit inside their palaces with bridal jewelry and heavily embellished sarees.
“Your serial glorified the royals not needing to do anything. That is not true”, she wrote. Khanna further frowns upon the gaudiness and opulence with which the aesthetics of the royalty are shown, arguing that Indian royalty was subtle, graceful and understated.
This post caused quite a stir, with mixed opinions from audiences.
Many echoed her sentiments and agreed that the producers should have done thorough research before showcasing the royalty as such. However, quite a few people in her comments also didn't agree with her, as they felt that it was merely a fictional work of art and shouldn't be taken seriously.
In her response, Khanna clarified that her post simply reflected her point of view supporting a strata of Indian society who have only been profiled as “decadent people living an opulent, mindless life in popular cinema”, despite their valuable contributions to Indian culture.
She added that the representation of culture, heritage and history in mainstream media carries weight, and should be projected with care.
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