Aviraaj returns to their palace (one of a dilapidated many) for the reading of his father’s will and perhaps out of a sense of responsibility (dim as it may be) to his mother Padmaja (Sakshi Tanwar). The royal family is completed by the matriarch Bhagyashree Devi (Zeenat Aman) who spends most of her time lounging with a ‘gummy’ or delivering (meant to be) hilarious one-liners.
The will reading contains more than one surprise for the family – the most devastating being the news of them being in debt and having no access to the late king’s material possessions. Those, he handed over to a mysterious ‘Maurice’. In such a bleak scenario – though the show’s bright colour palette and fashion magazine-worthy glitz doesn’t let that sink in – a ‘hospitality start-up CEO’ comes to the rescue.
Enter Sophia Kanmani Shekhar (Bhumi Pednekar), the CEO of ‘Work Potato’ (I thought the name was fun) who is on the hunt for palaces that she can turn into a ‘Royal B&B’. What’s their USP, you ask? She & her team want to bridge the gap between the royals and the common person – the ‘rajkumaris’ and the ‘aam kumaris’ under one roof. The masses would stay at the palace with the royal family. Would a business like this actually have a broad appeal, especially with the seemingly limitless budget they seem to operating on?
That’s a question you’re not meant to ask and honestly, a rom-com-starved part of me is okay with letting that go.
