Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“Archie, Archie, you can’t just live your life for kicks. Archie, Archie, everything is politics.”
Archie Andrews might be the lead vocalist of his band, but he learns a thing or two from his friends through the power of music in Zoya Akhtar’s teen musical, “The Archies.” Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor and Suhana Khan play lead trio Archie, Betty and Veronica and the story unfolds in a fictional Indian town called Riverdale in the 1960s. Just like the comics, the film focuses on the love triangle between Archie, Veronica, and Betty but also throws in a capitalistic conflict in the tale – industrialists plan to demolish their favorite park that’s situated in the heart of Riverdale, and the kids band together to save it. Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Dot, and Yuvraj Menda complete the friend group, playing Reggie, Jughead, Ethel, and Dilton, respectively.
“The Archies” opens with a cute-colorful cutout animation to explain the history of the fiction Riverdale, its residents & how Green Park is integral to the community’s roots. The wealthy Lodge family moves back to Riverdale, and Veronica rekindles her friendship with her best-friend Betty, but both girls have their eyes on the school flirt Archie. The first half focuses on the romantic tango between the teenagers, and slowly builds up to the primary conflict of the tale – the town’s park and a lot of small businesses are threatened as Veronica’s father Hiram Lodge (Alyy Khan) plans a massive redevelopment in the region for profit. How the high-school friends strategize, get together and fight the town council’s plan to raze the park forms the crux of the story.
While the movie has an ensemble cast, the strongest character of “The Archies” is its buoyant music by Ankur Tewari, Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa & The Islanders. If you appreciate retro jazzy beats and moody ballads (think Elvis Presley), you wouldn’t want to fast-forward a single song in the film. Agastya Nanda is quite middling as Archie, and his character progression from a boy who wants to escape his small town to an activist who wants to save it is too abrupt and unconvincing. Suhana Khan fluctuates in her role as Veronica. There are times when she charmingly embodies a rich brat with a big heart, but she isn’t able to exude the sassy confidence Veronica Lodge is known for. You feel like maybe Suhana should’ve played Betty Cooper, because her body language if often more demure and apologetic. Meanwhile, Khushi Kapoor is nearly invisible as Betty, if it weren’t for the beautiful songs featured in her scenes, she’d be completely forgettable. Dot as Ehtel has a lot more personality as Betty’s feisty protective friend who despises Archie’s frivolous ways with girls.
If someone perfectly embodies their comic-book counterpart, it’s Alyy Khan as Hiram Lodge, he has the intimidating presence of a wealthy businessman who does not have any time for trivial matters. It’s funny how Agastya Nanda and Vedang Raina seem to look like fraternal brothers, but Vedang Raina had a lot more main-character energy as Reggie Mantel than Agastya. Vedang’s Reggie is also a lot more sensible and sensitive than the comic-book version, although he remains just as flirty, with a soft spot for Veronica. Mihir Ahuja is pretty goofy as Archie’s best-friend Jughead, and provides some comic-relief through his love for food and his fear that Betty and Veronica will kill Archie or him if they find out about his two-timing ways. Yuvraj Menda is sweet as the nerdy Dilton, who idolizes Hedy Lamarr and always had a quick solution to problems. His friends love to repeat the funny way in which he says “Thank You”, which seems to be definitely inspired by social-media personality Josh Zilberberg, who is known for his quick sarcastic witticisms that he always ends with a nasal “Thank Yew”.
Zoya Akhtar and team build up a dreamy Riverdale, which has a sunny Goa-like charm, so “The Archies” is both light on the eyes and a delight to the ears courtesy its foot-tapping original soundtrack. But despite strong audio-visual elements, the plot is thin and the romantic sub-plot is weak, although the emphasis on friendship and community-spirit serve as great themes. While the lead trio are fine in their parts, it feels like they are holding back their emotions and do not amplify the carefree teen spirits of their characters. Archie and friends inhabit a whimsical fictional realm, where everything is sunny, and some music and games is all it takes to solve a capitalistic crisis. But the fact that this is a teen drama lays emphasis on the fact that life transcends trivial rivalries and romantic entanglements, makes it worth the watch.
Watch “The Archies” on Netflix.
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