The Archies Review: Indian ‘Riverdale’ Is Certainly A Launchpad, But Fails To Take Off
The Archies, the Zoya Akhtar musical, a typical Bollywood-style launchpad made for star kids, is a good effort from the otherwise classy director of Gully Boy, Dil Dhadakne Do, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, and Luck By Chance but fails to take off as a good entertainer.
The movie is based on the famous Archie Andrews and his friends from Archie’s Comics but set in a different Riverdale in India. Here, the characters are all Indian citizens but Anglo-Indians who have decided to live in this Indian Riverdale. The center of the story is Green Park and its conservation, and obviously, the love triangle involving Archie Andrews (Agastya Nanda), Veronica Lodge (Suhana Khan), and Betty Cooper (Khushi Kapoor). Do you see a pattern here? Yes. That’s why this writer is calling this movie a launchpad, not from a single family but from many—Bachchans, Kapoors, and now the Khans.
Why does the movie fail to take off? Primarily because the film assumes that all viewers are familiar with Archie’s Comics. All the characters in the movie remain unfamiliar to many due to exclusively sourcing from Archie’s. Someone sitting in front of Netflix because of the hype surrounding the release (remember the whole kith and kin lining up in front of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre two days ago for the premiere) will be wondering why all these teenage boys and girls are being thrown onto their screens without much introduction.
Those who have read the comics or watched the modern-day adaptation “Riverdale,” starring Lili Reinhart, Cole Sprouse, KJ Apa, and Camila Mendes streaming on Netflix, will be familiar with the characters.
The screenplay, written by Zoya’s usual suspects’ gang (Ayesha Devitre Dhillon and Reema Kagti), evades the continuity of the thread, and Farhan Akhtar’s dialogues stay away from the viewer most times. Even if you are not familiar with Archie’s Comics, the predictability of the movie will be another reason for dislike towards it.
The music of the movie is fantastic, as is the cinematography. The retro-vibe the movie trying to recreate fails to meet the target, but music, art direction and cinematography will be a little bit of solace for the makers.
When it comes to acting and debut performances, they manage to do their best. A revelation among them? This writer couldn’t find any.
Read other reviews:
Kaathal The Core Review: Mammootty Dares To Do What No Other Megastar Would Do In India
Leo Review: Vijay’s Mass Universe Meets Lokesh Kanagaraj And It Is Not Like Other Movies
