Filming has wrapped on the Bollywood adaptation of the Archie Comics, titled The Archies, Netflix announced on Monday. The streamer also shared a bunch of behind-the-scenes pictures of an on-set wrap party. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, The Archies features a cast full of newcomers, many of whom are the offspring of Bollywood royalty.
“Grab your milkshakes and say Archiesssss, because filming just wrapped, and we can’t wait to see the gang on-screen!” Netflix India posted on Twitter, sharing several stills of the cast and crew cutting a cake, and posing together on set. While little has been revealed about the film’s plot, we know that it is set in an Anglo-Indian town in the 1960s, and that it will involve musical sequences.
Little could be gleaned from the new pictures, but one shot in particular teased a brightly-lit nighttime set, which seemed to reveal a town square of some sort. Other pictures showed the cast posing alongside Akhtar in commemorative T-shirts. The filmmaker is perhaps best known in the West for having directed India’s official entry for the 2019 Oscars, the rap drama Gully Boy. For The Archies, she’ll be reuniting with her longtime creative partner Reema Kagti via their Tiger Baby Films banner.
The Archies is set to feature newcomers Mihir Ahuja, Dot., Yuvraj Menda and Vedang Raina, who will be joined by Suhana Khan (the daughter of Shah Rukh Khan, perhaps one of the most popular stars in the world), Khushi Kapoor (the daughter of the late screen icon Sridevi) and Agastya Nanda (grandson of acting royalty Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan).
Akhtar has previously teased details about the film, revealing, The Archies will be set in “the Anglo-Indian community of India,” in a “magical, fictional hill station town” called Riverdale. The Anglo-Indian community is essentially made up of the direct descendants of Britishers who lived in India during the Empire’s occupation, which ended with India attaining independence in 1947.
The Archies began filming in April, and in May, Netflix unveiled the cast in an announcement video featuring the central characters out on a picnic. Portions of the film were shot in the hill station of Ooty, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Ooty could be standing in for the film’s version of Riverdale.
The Archies serves as the first-ever feature film based on Archie Comics characters. The franchise has always been popular on television — first with the cartoon series, and then with The CW’s Riverdale, which most audiences around the world caught on Netflix. The Archies will be released in 2023. You can check out the new images here, and read the official synopsis down below:
“A musical experience bursting with youth, rebellion, friendships, first loves and everything young adult, it still promises to have something for every generation. The film has the iconic gang of The Archies’ at the center of it, and perfectly matches the youthful energy, hope and excitement of the sixties era.”
