Picture: Netflix
One of Netflix’s biggest Hindi Original movies ever is an adaptation of the popular Archie comics and features a cast of newcomers, some from popular cinema families.
Netflix is already the streaming home of the American series Riverdale, but a new Original movie from India re-imagines the characters from the Archie comics in an Anglo-Indian town in the 1960s. The Archies is helmed by a filmmaker Netflix is already quite familiar with. Zoya Akhtar wrote and directed segments for the Original anthologies Lust Stories and Ghost Stories, and her production company Tiger Baby Films — which produced The Archies — previously produced the Original series Eternally Confused and Eager for Love.
One of the big talking points about The Archies is that it marks the feature film debuts of the scions of several notable film families. Agastya Nanda is the grandson of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. Khushi Kapoor is the daughter of producer Boney Kapoor and the late star Sridevi, as well as the younger sister of Gunjan Saxena star Janhvi Kapoor. And Suhana Khan is the daughter of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Akhtar herself comes from a prestigious entertainment family. Her father Javed Akhtar wrote the lyrics for some of the songs featured in The Archies. His co-writer on the song “Sunoh” is none other than Dot., an indie musician who makes her movie debut in The Archies playing Ethel Muggs.
Music plays an important part in The Archies, with many of the promotions thus far focusing on the film’s songs and dance numbers. In addition to “Sunoh” — which features music by Ankur Tewari and The Islanders — Netflix released a video for “Va Va Voom,” written by the popular trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
What’s the plot of The Archies?
According to the Netflix description:
Set in 1960s India, Archie and the gang navigate romance, friendship and the future of Riverdale as developers threaten to destroy a beloved park.
Here’s how Zoya Akhtar explains the film’s tone:
The ’60s were the time when there was a peace movement, a revolution that happened, and all the Bob Dylan… There was an idealism that we will make the world a better place. That was the era where they believed that they could change the world. There was a bit of rebellion, peace and love. It was also the era of rock ‘n’ roll. So, that whole feeling of that era is what we wanted to bring in. It is a simple young-adult feel-good story.
Who is cast in The Archies?
Agastya Nanda as Archie Andrews
Khushi Kapoor as Betty Cooper
Suhana Khan as Veronica Lodge
Vedang Raina as Reggie Mantel
Dot. (Aditi Saigal) as Ethel Muggs
Yuvraj Menda at Dilton Doiley
What’s the release date for The Archies?
The Archies will be released globally on December 7, 2023.
You can add The Archies to your “Remind Me” Netflix queue here.
We’ll be including The Archies in our upcoming Indian roundup of what’s new on Netflix. In case you didn’t know, we round up all the new Indian releases every month.
Are you excited to watch The Archies? Let us know in the comments below!
