Agastya Nanda’s 17-year-old Archie Andrews and his friends — played by Suhana Khan, Vedang Raina, Khushi Kapoor, Mihir Ahuja, Aditi Dot and Yuvraj Menda — team up to save their picturesque hometown Riverdale from rampant modernisation in Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies trailer, which promises a tale of teen romance, rebellion and friendship.
Dropped on Thursday by Netflix India, the three-minute-two-second-long video takes viewers back to a time in history when a wave of protests blew across the world, with student movements gaining momentum and youngsters actively getting involved in deciding their future.
The video begins with Yuvraj Menda’s Dilton Doiley giving a context of the socio-political events that took place in the early ’60s. With references to the Goa Freedom Movement in 1961 and South Africa’s independence from British rule in 1910, Dilton asks his friends calmly about what they have achieved as individuals when the world has accomplished so much already. Archie and his gang laugh it off and reply, “nothing”.
The trailer then shows the friends group living their lives to the fullest in the Riverdale hill station, as they enjoy picnics and go for bus rides. However, as teenagers who will be stepping into adulthood soon, they also prepare themselves for their careers. Vedang Raina’s Reggie wants to pursue a career in comedy while Mihir Ahuja’s Jughead tries to explain to his parents why he dreams of being a musician. Jughead’s role model is the hit British pop singer Cliff Richard, who began his career by performing in bars in Lucknow. The teenager says he wants to reach people through his music and asks his parents to imagine the scenario if Richard hadn’t left India.
Interspersed with the film’s tracks such as Va Va Voom and Sunoh, which were recently dropped by the makers, the trailer also depicts Archie’s eternal confusion between his two love interests, Betty (Khushi Kapoor) and Veronica (Suhana Khan). In one scene, he asks out Betty on a date and in another, he tells Veronica that he always has fun with her. Veronica, however, replies wittily and turns him down by saying, “Me too, I always have fun with me.”
However, new challenges await the gang of teenagers after an agreement is signed between Veronica’s father and other Riverdale committee members to cut down trees in Green Park— an area where Archie and his friends grew up. Soon, these friends team up to save the place from getting demolished. In an era of student movements, freedom war cries and the youth taking a stand, they voice out their demands in order to keep Riverdale’s history and their childhood memories intact.
This protest, however, impacts Veronica personally. She confronts her father about his decision and tells him that her friends hate her because of him.
Zoya’s musical is an adaptation of the popular US comics series of the same name. The film marks a number of acting debuts including those of Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana and Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya.
The Archies will premiere on Netflix on December 7.
