‘The Archies,’ Indian Musical Based on Archie Comics, Gets Teaser and Debuts of Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan and Agastya Nanda

Netflix has unveiled a new teaser for “The Archies,” a coming-of-age, live action musical set in 1960s India based on the teenagers of Riverdale.

“The Archies” is a feature film adaptation of the Archie comics, which are hugely popular on the Indian subcontinent.

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The teaser, released during Netflix’s Tudum fan event, reveals that the film is set in 1964 in Riverdale, described on a railway sign as a “hill station,” a term dating back to colonial times that refers to a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain. One of the transport links servicing the hill stations are small mountain railway trains running on narrow gauge tracks, known affectionately in India as “toy trains” and the teaser opens with a shot of top train puffing into Riverdale station.

Once in the quaint town, the teaser reveals the iconic Pop Tate’s, a soda shop that Archie and his friends hang out at. After promising rock ‘n roll, the rest of the teaser is a whirl of teenagers having a good time.

Young actors Mihir Ahuja, Dot, Yuvraj Menda and Vedang Raina feature in the film’s cast. The offspring of Bollywood royalty are debuting in the film, including Khushi Kapoor, the daughter of the late actor Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor and sister of Janhvi Kapoor; superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan; and Agastya Nanda, the grandson of revered actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan.

The musical drama is directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Akhtar and Reema Kagti (“Dahaad”) for Tiger Baby and Sharad Devarajan for Graphic India. It is written by Kagti, Akhtar and Ayesha DeVitre (“Kapoor & Sons”).

Akhtar’s 2019 music-themed film “Gully Boy” played at the Berlin Film Festival and was India’s entry for the Oscars. She has directed segments of Netflix anthology films “Ghost Stories” (2020) and “Lust Stories” (2018). The first season of Amazon series “Made in Heaven,” created by Kagti and Akhtar, was nominated at the International Emmys.

Watch the teaser here:

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