The Archies (2023)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: Ooty, Mumbai, and Mauritius

The Archies is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language teen musical film directed by Zoya Akhtar, who co-produced it with Reema Kagti under Tiger Baby Films, and Sharad Devarajan under Graphic India. The film is a live-action adaptation of "The Archies," a fictional rock band who appeared in the 1960s animated cartoon, The Archie Show. The film stars Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Aditi Saigal, and Yuvraj Menda.

Production

In March 2018, Variety reported that an Indian adaptation of Archie Comics under the supervision of Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Graphic India, as a feature film was in development and would feature the fictional music group with an Indian cast. Though there was no further development, in March 2021, Zoya Akhtar was reported to helm the film.

Akhtar, being a self-confessed fan of the comics, wanted the adaptation to be nostalgic and familiar with the comic fans, but also to the millennial generations who had not been familiar with the comics. She wanted to take themes that would resonate with them and blend with the nostalgia, describing it as a film "rooted in reality but being dreamy as well." Many enthusiasts compared the aesthetics of the film with that of the cottage-core genre.

In an interview for Vogue, Akhtar said that she initially met Devarajan for a different comic adaptation, and during their conversation she expressed her interest in the Archie comics, whose adaptation had been owned and leased to Netflix. Devarajan contacted the executives of Netflix and asked for her involvement on directing the film, to which she eventually agreed.

The Archies was jointly written by Akhtar, Kagti and Ayesha Devitre Dhillon. In order to keep the characters as original to the comics, Akhtar set the storyline in the Anglo-Indian community, where she and her creative team pulled down several references and met people within the community requesting old photographs for imitating their style.

The Archies marks the debut of Shah Rukh Khan's daughter Suhana Khan (Veronica), the late Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's younger daughter Khushi Kapoor (Betty), and Amitabh Bachchan's grandson Agastya Nanda (Archie). In May 2022, an announcement video for the film revealed the other principal cast members, Mihir Ahuja (Jughead), Aditi "Dot" Saigal (Ethel), Yuvraj Menda (Dilton), and Vedang Raina (Reggie).

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