The film adaptation of the comics was under development since March 2018, before Akhtar's involvement as the director and producer of the film, officially announced in November 2021. Following an extensive pre-production and casting process, the film was shot during April–December 2022 in two concurrent schedules across Ooty, Mauritius and Mumbai. Nikos Andritsakis handled the film's cinematography, with the original score composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy and Jim Satya, the former also composed the songs with Ankur Tewari, The Islanders and Saigal.
The Archies premiered at the 54th International Film Festival of India on 22 November 2023, and was released on Netflix on 7 December 2023. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
Premise
Set in 1960s India, Archie and the gang navigate romance, friendship and the future of Riverdale as developers threaten to destroy a beloved park.[3][4]
Farhan Akhtar as Ben Andrews (voice only), Archie's uncle
Production
Development
In March 2018, Variety reported that an Indian adaptation of Archie Comics under the supervision of Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Graphic India as feature film is in development and would feature the fictional music group with an Indian cast.[7] Though no further development, in March 2021, Zoya Akhtar was reported to helm the film.[8] That November, the project was officially confirmed as a Netflix original film with Akhtar, also directing and producing the film with Reema Kagti under Tiger Baby Films.[9][10][11] Although the company had previously produced Gully Boy (2019), this would mark their first independent project.[12][13] Akhtar being a self-confessed fan of the comics, she 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, had 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".[14] Many enthusiasts compared the aesthetics of the film with that of the cottage-core genre. Reema Kagti also opined on Akhtar's comments on wanting the film to be relevant with those who had not read the comics.[15][16]
In an interview to Vogue, Akhtar said that she initially met Devarajan for a different comic adaptation, and during their conversation she confessed her interest on the Archie comics, whose adaptation had been owned and leased to Netflix. Devarajan contacted the executives of Netflix and asked her involvement on directing the film which she eventually agreed to.[17]
"There was a culture of music and fashion and food that was important to them. There was a culture of dating. There was the history of how they were placed in India... the hill stations, the architecture. A lot of the values were similar. There was a lot about the community that lent itself to this story."
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.[14][18] Set in 1960s, the period known for several incidents including anti-war protests, civil rights movement in America, hippie culture and the music of the Beatles and Bob Dylan; she said "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."[15]
Casting
The Archies would mark the debut of Shah Rukh Khan's daughter Suhana Khan with the late Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's younger daughter Khushi Kapoor, as well as Amitabh Bachchan's grandson Agastya Nanda.[19][20] In May 2022, an announcement video for the film revealed the other principal cast members,[21] Mihir Ahuja, Aditi "Dot" Saigal, Yuvraj Menda and Vedang Raina.[22] Except the former, the other three also made their debut with this film.[23][24]
The casting garnered criticism owing to the nepotism as three of the principal members were from film families,[25] while also saying the principal characters being light-skinned felt inauthentic to that period.[26] Akhtar defended the criticisms saying that many Indians are light-skinned.[27] Also addressing the nepotism issue, Akhtar said that as the comics only described the love triangle between the principal characters (Archie, Betty and Veronica) it was falsely mentioned to have three leads. But the film featured seven lead actors.[18]
Nanda, Suhana and Khushi gave auditions before their selection.[28] Apart from other principal cast members in the background—Saigal was a singer, whereas Raina was a model and musician who had not thought about acting, Suhana and Kushi had an interest in acting; the former had starred in a few short films. Saigal initially met Akhtar for music, for which she asked her to audition, and Menda was cast after Zoya found him on Instagram.[14] The cast members underwent acting workshops to get into their characters.[17]
On their acting performance, Akhtar further said that "they all have a particular comfort in front of the camera, a particular kind of confidence that comes through. You cannot tell it is their first time. They are not awkward in themselves and in their skin".[18]
Filming
The test shoot for the film began in March 2022, with the presence of the principal cast.[29][30] On 18 April 2022, principal photography for the film began with its first schedule commencing in The Lawrence School, Lovedale near Ooty.[31][32] The schedule was completed within two months.[33] In July 2022, the crew returned to Mumbai for filming the second schedule,[34] with a skating song under the choreography of Ganesh Hegde being shot.[35] At the end of the month, another song sequence choreographed by Bosco–Caesar and few scenes were shot at the Royal Palms in Mumbai for 10 days, which was followed by a subsequent two-month schedule break.[36] Filming resumed in Mumbai in October 2022, across several locations and concluded on 19 December 2022.[37][38] Many scenes were also filmed in Mauritius. Throughout the schedule, the cast and crew adhered to safety regulations because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[37]
The first look poster and teaser announcing the film's cast was released on 14 May 2022.[39] As a part of the promotions, the film's cast members conducted a dance performance at the Tudum 2023 fan event held in São Paulo, Brazil on 17 June 2023.[40][41] The same day, the film's teaser trailer was launched at the event,[42] and was later uploaded to social media platforms, the following day.[43] In late-June 2023, the team created an advertisement of a plane flying over the Gateway of India promoting the film's release, which has been created using visual effects.[44]
Throughout August and October 2023, Akhtar revealed the character promos and posters of the film's cast, through Instagram.[45][46] Post the announcement of the release, on 30 August 2023, a huge billboard was set up on the Western Express Highway in Mumbai, indicating the countdown to the number of days to its release.[47][48] The official trailer was released on 9 November 2023.[49][50]
Amy Nicholson of The New York Times wrote that "this inessential Bollywood-tinged fantasia is two and a half hours of soda shops, chaste dates, candy-colored petticoats, and athletic musical numbers".[64] Udita Jhunjhunwala of Scroll.in termed it a "good-looking nostalgia piece", but dismissed the dialogues as occasionally "banal"; she considered the "real stars" to be the "production design, costumes, cinematography, art direction, choreography and locations".[65]NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee labelled it "a beguiling oddity in style, substance and spirit", adding that the "pat and predictable" film "flows without a hitch and articulates its points with a refreshing lightness of touch".[66]
Among the ensemble cast of newcomers, Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com deemed Suhana Khan and Vedang Raina "ready-to-ship star material".[67] Terming the film's cast as "Nepotism Central", Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express believed that "Khushi has more verve than both Agastya and Suhana, but I will also say that the latter did grow on me".[68] Conversely, Jhunjunwala found Khushi Kapoor a "bit stiff in her dance moves and speech" and Agastya Nanda "likeable though a touch diffident in his timbre".[65]
^"Team Archies visits Miranda House". The Times of India. 23 November 2023. ISSN0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023. After a hectic day at Hindu College and Shri Ram College of Commerce yesterday, the cast members - Mihir Ahuja. Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Dot, Vedang Raina, and Yuvraj Menda - visited Miranda House along with director Zoya Akhtar to promote their movie.