Gully Boy, Dil Dhadakne Do, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara… Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s collaborations always get us excited and the anticipation is sky-high with their upcoming project, The Archies.
Based on the perennial favourite Archie Comics, this 2023 film for Netflix is also the “first solo” production from Zoya and Reema’s joint banner, Tiger Baby.
The Archies has already stirred the spot with its first trailer which shows a bunch of new faces as its lead cast. There are the star kids Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda and Khushi Kapoor, alongside a talented bunch of actors, musicians and dancers in the form of Dot, Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja and Yuvraj Menda.
Soon after the trailer launch, the young team got a lot of love and support on social media from the Bollywood brigade, including Anil Kapoor, Manish Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif. Proud family members like Amitabh Bachchan and Gauri Khan shared the trailer on their social media handles too.
As we eagerly await the Indian versions of Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Reggie, Moose and the others — here’s a who’s who of the young cast.
Suhana Khan
The daughter of Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan, Suhana will play the super rich and spoilt Veronica in The Archies. Suhana has previously worked in a short film called The Grey Part of Blue. She is popular on social media for her fashion sense and has 2.8M followers on Instagram. Suhana recently shared photos from Ooty on her Instagram handle with the cast of her big-screen debut.
Agastya Nanda
Agastya has inherited the acting gene from both his father and mother’s side, though neither of his parents – Sweta Bachchan Nanda and Nikhil Nanda — are actors. He is the grandson of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and the great-grandson of Raj Kapoor, and will be playing the main man of the comic series – Archie Andrews.
Khushi Kapoor
Cast as the do-gooder Betty in the film, Khushi is the younger daughter of Sridevi and Boney Kapoor, and Anil Kapoor’s niece. The young fashionista, who is currently sporting her Betty bangs, often takes the internet by storm with her quirky posts with big sister Janhvi Kapoor.
Dot
Dot is the daughter of Amit Saigal, late rock musician and founder of India’s first rock magazine, Rock Street Journal. A singer-songwriter herself, Dot’s 2017 number, Everybody Dances to Techno, received warm reviews not only from techno lovers but also Telugu superstar Devarakonda. Another track, Khamotion, is also popular among music lovers. Dot’s full name is Aditi Saigal. Her role in The Archies is still under wraps.
Vedang Raina
Vedang, who is also a vocalist, is playing Reggie. His covers of popular songs like Khalid’s Talk and Phir Le Aya Dil from Barfi have many found admirers among netizens.
Mihir Ahuja
Mihir has a string of prestigious projects in his kitty already. The actor has previously worked in films like Super 30 with Hrithik Roshan, Stage of Siege and Dolly Aur Kitty Ke Chamakte Sitare. He has also featured in the Hollywood film Cheaters (2020), and is a dancer, beatboxer and voiceover artiste. Mihir has also been seen in series like the Emraan Hashmi-starrer Bard of Blood, Mission Over Mars and Feels Like Ishq.
Yuvraj Menda
A fabulous dancer, Yuvraj Menda is also a fashion influencer. Yuvraj often shares dance videos with Instagram sensation Taneesho. His last dance video, also with Taneesho, had garnered more than 8 lakh views on Instagram, and their dance collab on Beyonce’s Freakum Dress received a whopping 1 million views on Instagram.