The Archies

I'm sorry what? If they wanted an Indian adaptation they could've done a simple believable story. It started with a such a ridiculous self effacing colonialism loving bootlicking concept. Its so tone deaf they have no idea people are reclaiming their lands, their origins and a story which makes half Indians half colonizers look superior and unique, is not going to fly well with the audiences. This is neither for Indians, nor NRIs nor the International audience who will be absolutely clueless because they have been brought up on slumdog Millionaire and will consider this a wannabe project. It makes its proximity to whiteness as a USP and is a leap ahead of something Karan Johar would make. Again self effacing as can be. I have to say I like Suhana Khan's debut a lot. Nothing against her she looks like a beautiful humble girl, a really promising actress and really believable for this role. I think she is meant for much grittier cinema. I am so excited for her future she has her dad's easy charisma and relatability but this show is not it. Wish her the best and would love to see more of her in future.

The Archies is just a movie that could & should have been avoided in the first place by NetflixIndia & by a director like Zoya Akhtar who always have been associated with the best of cinema in India, it would have saved Netflix tremendous loads of money to fund in some quality content on the lines of TVF or maybe something like Kohrra or CAT.

Story : The Archies starts with the introduction to the town of Riverdale somewhere in the Northern India which is inhabited by the Anglo Indian's(citizens with mixed Indian & European ancestors).

We are introduced to the characters of Archie Andrews(Agastya Nanda), Veronica Lodge(Suhana Khan), Betty Copper(Khushi Kapoor), Jughead(Mihir Ahuja), Reggie Mantle(Vedang Raina) & Ethel Muggs(Dot.) enjoying their respective lives in this picturesque town.

The story directly dives into the return of Veronica & her family to the town of Riverdale, all the friends uniting back, Archie Andrews stuck in a love triangle & the intentions of Veronica's father to build a big hotel in the middle of Green Park which is heart & soul of Riverdale.

Performances : I shouldn't talk about it, because everyone acted really well except the main lead characters, having such a great supporting cast with expressionless lead cast was just painful to watch & it just doesn't end at expressions, even the dialogue delivery is just really bad especially for Suhana Khan & Khushi Kapoor, Zoya it seemed had intentionally avoided taking close up shots for any of the actors.

Direction and Screenplay : The Gully Boy director has always shown us how brilliant she is with her cinema be it Dil Dhakane Do or Made in Heaven, she knows on how to engage the audiences to the screen & over here it just seemed as if Zoya was not on director's chair, bad acting, non engaging screenplay, can't imagine Zoya not noticing all this during the shooting.

The credits where due, cinematography looked terrific(especially loved the entry scene of Dot on the cycle & camera switching from rear to front), colours/sets/costumes were all perfectly done.

Music : This is a musical story and it had to have great music, while some songs are really good such as Sunoh & In Rahoon Mein, the rest feel underwhelming & this is not the expectation when you have Shankar Ehsaan Loy at the helm of it.

Good/Bads : Avoid it, save time and probabaly go & watch something worthy, the movie shouldn't have been made in the first place because The Archies has so much to it that you just can't fit all in a short runtime, the audience needs to know Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge in detail, each character needed to have their own arc for the audience to feel for them & connect with them, this is what Riverdale did in the starting seasons even though it lost the grip in last few seasons but still the audience came back in for their favourite characters.

The main leads really need to excel on their acting capabilities, dialogue delivery & this movie did not offer them anything that they could take away from their debut launch except the hard lessons.

Zoya Akhtar has a dent on her sky high filmography with TheArchies but we still know how good she can be when she wants so waiting for the next Tiger Baby production.

"The Archies" hits a sour note from the very start, thanks to a cast that delivers performances ranging from uninspired to downright cringe-worthy. The acting, a fundamental element that could have salvaged the film, instead becomes its biggest flaw.

Lead by a once-promising ensemble, the cast of "The Archies" appears disengaged, phoning in performances that lack authenticity and emotional depth. Even the usually reliable actors fail to inject life into their characters, reducing them to mere cardboard cutouts of their animated counterparts. The chemistry between the cast members is virtually non-existent, making it difficult for the audience to invest in the relationships and conflicts that unfold on screen.

One of the film's major pitfalls is the wooden delivery of dialogue, with exchanges feeling forced and devoid of natural flow. Emotionally charged scenes that should have been poignant become cringe-inducing, as the actors struggle to convey genuine feelings. It's a painful reminder of the importance of strong performances in bringing characters to life, and "The Archies" sorely misses the mark on this front.

Even the charismatic Archie Andrews, typically a beacon of charm, is reduced to a lackluster portrayal that lacks the energy and enthusiasm associated with the character. Supporting characters fare no better, contributing to an overall lack of cohesion in the ensemble cast.

In the end, the horrible acting becomes the defining feature of "The Archies," overshadowing any potential redeeming qualities the film might have had. The lack of chemistry, authenticity, and emotional resonance in the performances ultimately leaves audiences cringing and longing for the animated magic of the original characters, rather than enduring this live-action misfire.

What a horrible one this was. Wanted to just abandon the movie mid-way. Poor direction, poor storyline, poor acting. The actors didn't even look good. Their accents were funny. Seems like Zoya Akhtar made this movie just for a few Bandra houses. Amitabh Bachchan's grandson is not hero material at all. Suhana Khan didn't fit well. She is similar to Swara Bhasker. Rich roles won't suit them. Khushi Kapoor looked funny. Other actors looked plastic. Wasn't able to find one thing to praise in the whole movie. Maybe some other director could've saved the film. The casting too was poor. All that hype and promotion came down to nothing.

The first 15 minutes of the movie itself were so cringeworthy that it spoiled the whole mood and left a bad taste over the entire film.

Bollywood makes a thousand times better musical movies than Hollywood. Who in the world thought it would be a good idea to make a musical like Hollywood but in Hindi/Hinglish?!?

The movie is set in 1960, and there are barely any old white people in the film, considering we are dealing with Anglo Indians, so where are their British grandfathers and grandmothers? Don't tell me all left! And there are so many white Indian kids, but barely any older British people around?

English music is clearly from the 60s, but the Hindi music is straight from crappy autotune 2023 Tiktok generation!? The only good song comes at the end of the movie, which is by Arijit. They missed the perfect opportunity to have classical music, which was culture back in the day. The whole film should have been in English rather than in Hindi/ Hinglish. I don't know why, but it felt like it was not made for an Indian audience, and I live in Canada. I'm Canadian-Indian, even I couldn't relate.

The amount of money it went to make this clearly shows how good the cinematography looks, especially because of Zoya; she's a fantastic Director with her excellent camera work, but the movie itself is cringe. I feel bad for Suhana because I was looking forward to seeing this; all the actors did an "OK" job. I cannot say everybody was amazing because the movie itself is below mediocre, and it's filled with bad writing(dialogues).

Conclusion: don't fix something that's already perfect. This could have been a fantastic film if they had filmed this like a normal Bollywood movie, which is basically a musical. Hands down, Zoya's worst work.