Exclusive! Zeenat Aman is the new nani in B-town; to play Ishan Khatter's granny in The Royals

Actress Zeenat Aman is set to play Ishaan Khatter’s nani in the upcoming series The Royals, which we have exclusively learnt. “Zeenat plays one of the most integral parts in the story. She plays Ishaan’s maternal grandmother and it is a role of a lifetime,” a reliable source close to the development confirms. The actress has almost finished shooting her part.Zeenat did not respond to our queries when we reached out to her.
The Royals also features Bhumi Pednekar opposite Ishaan. Earlier, we had reported that actress Sakshi Tanwar replaced Mallika Sherawat to play Ishaan’s mother in the series. While Mallika walked out of the show citing creative differences, Sakshi had been finalised to play the character. The cast members are currently shooting, while the series has been edited alongside.
In her recent social media post, Zeenat, who has been ruling the social media game, spoke about choosing work due to financial reasons.
“Those excruciating weeks that turned to months that turned to years. The time when the work dried up, the body aged, and one felt their relevance slip away. At first, there was the sheer relief of anonymity. But then came the fear of how to keep food on the table. With no husband to turn to, no sibling to lean on, and two helpless children to provide for, it was terrifyingly lonely. She said, “Those were the years I took pretty much any work that came my way. I did not have the luxury of discernment or whimsy. It was bone-rattling drives to nondescript towns for event appearances, accommodation at no-star hotels with filthy sheets, trite renditions of ‘chura liya' in smelly halls, poorly drafted scripts that pushed me to the edge of sanity, being jostled like a prop during stifling photo ops… and then there were the other odd jobs. Teaching poise and etiquette, writing agony aunt columns, even narrating audio tapes,” she wrote.