Just saw Archies on Netflix.
An OTT only movie directed by Zoya Akhtar, it is surprisingly watchable.
The three leading characters , Archie, Veronica and Betty are played respectively by:
Agastya Nanda, grandson of Big B,
Suhana Khan daughter of SRK,
Khushi Kapoor, daughter of Sridevi
Nepotism anyone?
They all play 18 year olds in Riverdale, a fictional town in the hills of North India. Conveniently, they are all Anglo Indians, something that suits their upbringing and accents.
For posh mamas and papas providing a launching pad to their laadlas and laadlis - the Archies brand, story and settings are ideal.
Like in the Archie comics, which people of my generation have read a lot of, the problems these kids face are not real world problems. They have their small little world and their small little problems, consisting of things like what to wear for the next party and why did Archie kiss that girl and not me.
The picture could as well have been titled Barbie World, for that is what the whole set ( the whole film is shot on a set which is Riverdale village) looks like.
Given that background, the kids fit right into their roles. It is unlikely they had to practice much to be the fun loving, anglicised, detached from reality kind of teenagers that they are playing. A lot of current generation teenagers from SoBo and such areas will identify with them.
The kids, being star kids, have obviously been through a lot of training in acting and dancing, especially dancing. They can really dance! The movie is made in the form of a Western musical, not very usual for an Indian movie.
The script is fairly trite, but when was the storyline ever important in an Archie comic? The director has done a good job of taking these kids through their paces, and keeping the screenplay fairly engaging throughout, with just that little bit of suspense about what will happen next. The sinister plot of Mr Lodge, conspiring with a local wannabe politician, to tear down the town's Central Park and to build a hotel there is thwarted by the kids, and they endear themselves to the whole town in that process.
I don't know if these kids have it in them to make it big - very difficult to tell with this movie - but they all have done a fairly good job. Of the three, Suhana Khan is the most impressive. Khushi is kind of damp, and Agastya is good, like Abhishek, but also like Abhishek, seems to lack that extra something that say, a Big B has.
In terms of acting, Mihir Ahuja who plays Jughead is good. Vedang Raina playing Reggie is eye candy material, I can imagine all the girls watching the movie swooning over him.
On the whole the movie is a nice, light, entertainer.
Worth a watch
