Table of Contents
When it comes to on-screen fashion, Aastha Sharma stands out as one of the most dynamic forces in the industry. Renowned for redefining characters through her signature style, she effortlessly blends bold modernity with subtle touches of tradition. Her work on The Royals is a testament to this balance, showcasing her talent for infusing contemporary flair with classic elegance. From curating looks for the Cannes red carpet to leading her own styling agency, Aastha’s growing portfolio speaks volumes about her versatility and drive. And yet, that’s just scratching the surface of her relentless hustle.
Now that The Royals is streaming on Netflix and making waves globally, Masala! caught up with Aastha to explore her creative journey, the behind-the-scenes challenges, and everything in between.
Aastha Sharma on how she was approached for The Royals
In the past, I have worked for PNC (Pritish Nandy Communications) for a project and this time they called me up for this project (The Royals). And, at that point, I was not looking to do a long format because I had a small baby, but when I read the script and the concept. I just couldn’t say no. And, that’s how it came up to me.
The whole process was really fast because we didn’t have much prep time, and I came on board in January and we went on floors in February. So yeah, it was something, I couldn’t say no. It touches a great script and concept, and especially for a costume designer to do a show like this, you don’t get this opportunity again and again. I’ve done costumes for the whole show. And, we have designed clothes, we have collaborated with designers and brands and jewellers, and we have put together beautiful characters.
Her Research
What kind of research did you do to authentically capture royal fashion, and where did you allow for creative liberty?
So, usually when you hear the word ‘royals’, you feel that it’s gonna be like a periodic drama or something you’ll have to reference from the past but after reading the script, it was very today it was made in 2024-2025, the lives of royals, which they lived today. So it has to be very, very realistic. It has to be something that is a mix of tradition, but also very modern. So, all our research was… we actually didn’t get enough time, and we didn’t have so much of the research online to kind of create these characters because they are from today’s day and age.
Even if you see Maji Saheba (Zeenat Aman) and Padmaja (Shakshi Tanwar), who are the grandmother and the mother. They have lived such a long life that they are in the very present world. So it has to be very realistic. It had to be something very relatable, and that’s what we kept in mind. Of course, it’s high on fashion. They know their fashion, they know the trends. Yet there is something like the jewellery that they have used is very traditional, Victorian, things that have come from the past and gone to the present. So it was a beautiful mix of traditional and modernity, a mix of both. That’s how we kind of put it together.
We were shooting in Rajasthan. So there is a chunk of stuff in the show where it is very traditional. It has your very traditional attire and stuff, but it’s a small part of it, and because we were in Rajasthan, shooting in Jaipur, it was a lot easier to kind of understand their culture and their traditions and then bring them to the show.
Character Breakdowns
Each character in The Royals has a distinct personality. Can you walk us through how their costumes reflect their individual identities?
Well, because there are so many characters, it was a lot of fun. And they all have a very different personal style, and they have very different character backgrounds in the show.
So, for Sophia (Bhumi Pednekar), she’s like a strong woman today, a very businesswoman. She’s very focused and she has an agenda to complete. She has a job to complete. So her looks were very structured, very today, very ‘you and I’ kind of silhouettes. But yet it’s very stylish. So even through the show, we build her character in a way where she’s a boss woman and in pants suits and waist coats and once she goes to the palace how her clothing kind of changes yet keeping in mind where she comes from and what kind of silhouettes she’s gonna wear. So it’s very clean cut, very modern.
When it comes to Aviraaj (Ishaan Khatter), he’s never lived in the palace. He’s always lived in New York. He’s travelled the world. So his sense of dressing is very modern, very New York, very easygoing and yet his personality has the ‘Maharaja’ in him. So again, when he comes back to the palace, we have transitioned him from being very casual to dressing up. But again, his dressing up doesn’t go very like ‘traditional Maharaja space,’ it still had his personal sense of style. So again, sharp bandhgala, clean-cut kurta, going from like just jeans and shirts to transitions into bandhgalas and sherwanis.
Then, we have Majisa, who’s the queen of the palace. She’s the eldest member of the family, so she’s wearing all the jewels and her Victorian vintage pieces of jewellery. Things that have travelled with her for so many years. Yet again, she has a very modern mindset. So that’s what is visible in the show as well, that she knows the fashion, she knows what looks good on her. She wears couture at home. So, her character was very, uh, in that piece that, you know, she’s the ‘Maharani’ and she needs to look the same.
Sakshi Tanwar is the mother who’s traditional yet also kind of understanding today’s day and age and the world. So we have beautiful chiffon sarees with beautiful jewels. She experiments with her hair and makeup, and she has a certain sense of style.
Then we have Ayesha Dhondi (Nora Fatehi), who has again, who’s travelled the world, but she still knows she’s the princess. And so you see her in beautiful sarees and gowns, and a lot of variation is there for her as well.
Jinne aka Divyaranjini Singh (Kavya Trehan) in the show. Her style is completely different
sense of style. She’s eclectic, she has fun with fashion, and she knows she’s not your regular person who dresses casually. She likes to dress up, and she has her own sense of style. It’s fun, it’s different. So she stands out. We tried to hook her with Zeenat Aman’s character Majisa, as she’s the granddaughter of Majisa. So, you know, how you take tips and dressing styles from your grandparent. So, her’s is an extension of what Majisa as a younger person would be dressing like.
Difference between real & reel
How is styling for a fictional royal family different from working with real-life celebrities?
Very different. So, obviously costume is very character-based. You have to do your research and you have to follow the script and where they come from there, like they already have their sense of character established in the script, and you have to follow from there. Their sense of dressing so they represents that character and the character name that they have in the show.
When it comes to celebrity styling or any other kind of styling, you focus on the celebrity’s personal style. What they, what looks good on them, what doesn’t look good, and it’s very, very personal.
But when you’re doing a film or a show, you have to follow the script. You have to follow the locations and the background where these characters come from. So you’re constantly developing. So that’s why it becomes costume designing.
So like my styling obviously comes in part where I’m putting the looks together, but it’s also costume design where I have to visualise that what is gonna look good on them as a character or as like somebody who has a different, completely different background, because it’s not the actor, it’s the character that we usually work on.
Was there a particular outfit or look from the show that you’re especially proud of or excited for audiences to see?
Lots of it. There’s so much in the show. There is a big fashion show that happens towards the end, where we have collaborated with Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. There’s a big ballroom dancing that’s happening where we have collaborated with Falguni Shane Peacock. We have jewellers like Amrapali and The Gem Palace, who have contributed with their jewellery through the show.
I think there’s so much to see. I want people to see Zeenat Aman’s all the looks. I think they’re quite special. Kavya’s looks they’re quite special. Quite a bit. At the coronation, they all dressed in traditional outfits, where Ishaan is wearing a beautiful Rohit Bal sherwani. There’s so much fashion in it.
Evolution of fashion in storytelling
How do you see the role of fashion evolving in storytelling, especially in OTT series?
I think it’s beautifully evolving because now you know a lot of the stories and I’ve been very fortunate to do some of the shows where passion is considered very high in demand and people understand the importance of looking great, a little over the talk fashion which is aspiring and it has to be relatable.
And it’s a great platform to showcase to a way larger audience, and it’s not just the Indian audience, international audience as well. And I hope after watching The Royals, a lot of people are gonna watch the Indian cultural designers. There are some grand outfits and to put those in a show like this and to be able for the world to see, I think it’s evolving so beautifully and the designers are open for these collaborations and they get excited about it and we create this larger than life, yet realistic, an aspiring world for the world to see. So I think it’s evolving quite beautifully. Yeah. And it’s a great platform.
What’s next for you after The Royals—more fiction work, fashion week projects, or celebrity styling?
I’m actually shooting Four More Shots Please! Season 4, right now, as we speak. I’m styling a film and I am waiting to take a holiday, and then start the next part of the year. It’s been an exciting year for me, and it’s been like last six months have been very, very crazy challenging.
Also Read: Exclusive: Sensitive times to fulfilled dreams, The Royals’ star Lisa Mishra opens up like never before, ‘I pinch myself everyday…’
To stay updated with the latest Bollywood news, follow us on Instagram and X, like us on Facebook and visit Masala.com.
