For decades, Bollywood has been obsessed with a very specific kind of pairing: older hero, younger heroine. Whether it’s Shah Rukh Khan with Anushka Sharma or Salman Khan and Rashmika Mandanna, all leading men romance women half their age. And we just silently accept it as one of those “norms”. But now, something refreshing is brewing. It’s the slow, but glorious reversal of the age gap. Netflix’s latest series, The Royals, might not be making headlines with its story, but we have to appreciate the casting.

Related: Let’s Reverse The Age Gap In Bollywood: 7 Pairings We Want To See On Screen ASAP

Why do we approve of The Royals?

Cast at the centre of this opulent saga are Bhumi Pednekar and Nora Fatehi, both playing powerful, layered women opposite the charming Ishaan Khatter, who is younger than both of them in real life.

Usually, when a younger actor is paired with an older actress in Bollywood, the industry finds a way to “justify” it. Remember Ishaan and Tabu in A Suitable Boy? Well, Tabu was playing a courtesan. Similarly, in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, where Ranbir Kapoor was romancing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, she was a divorcee. Bollywood never pairs an older actress with a younger actor if the story doesn’t need the age difference. But in The Royals, there is no apparent reason for the age gap. Bhumi and Nora’s characters do not have a tragic past. They are normal woman just like us, and the series has no age-specific angle to it. For once, the younger man-older woman dynamic isn’t played for laughs, tragedy, or controversy. It’s just…normal. And that’s precisely what makes it revolutionary.

Bollywood’s obsession with younger women

Let’s not forget: Bollywood has long dictated that a woman’s shelf life on screen starts ticking the moment she hits 30, while her male counterparts are given endless extensions. We’ve had male stars in their 50s romancing women in their 20s with barely a raised eyebrow. But reverse the roles? Cue the moral panic, or worse, disgusting opinions.

That’s why this shift is significant. By casting Bhumi and Nora opposite a younger man without turning it into a plot device, The Royals is turning the age-gap norm on its head. And we’re happy to say that this isn’t an isolated case. We’ve started seeing flickers of this change over the last couple of years. Remember Lust Stories with Manisha Koirala and Jaideep Ahlawat?

The Royals is a more mainstream representation of the reverse age gap. The fact that actresses like Bhumi and Nora, who are not just pretty faces but formidable forces, are being courted on screen by younger actors like Ishaan Khatter speaks volumes. If this is the future of Bollywood romance (and we hope it is), we say: long may it reign.

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Related: The Royals Review: Why Does Ishaan Khatter Have More Chemistry With His Horse Than Bhumi Pednekar?