The Archies

Do you remember a film called “Chillar Party”, wherein a handful of kids come together to save a stray dog? I found this movie to be similar, only the lead protagonists are young adults (17 year olds), who come together to save a park at  the centre of their town. At that age, confusion around romantic feelings for each other are natural, so that aspect needs to be integrated with the age group at hand.

 

What is the criticism all about?

This film has faced lot of flak because characters are out of a popular comic series and not everyone seems to like humanization of cartoon characters. But what if the name of the film, and the name of the characters had been different? It would have made no difference.

Lot of unnecessary songs.

Indeed, but think of it like a musical. The characters are young, and their minds are in a world of their own. Some song and dance is acceptable.

Nepotism.

There are some star kids, such as Agastya Nanda (son of Shweta Bachchan and grandson of Amitabh Bachchan), Suhana Khan (daughter of Shah Rukh Khan) and Khushi Kapoor (daughter of Sridevi). Criticism goes the camera seems to recognize only three faces, but are they not the central characters? I thought the story tried to recreate the flavour of original comics, where the story revolves around Archie, Veronica, Betty, Reggie, Jughead, etc. The star kids have done justice to their roles, and so have the others. It is their first film, so the criticism has to stop.  

 Did I like the film?

Yes, but I took it as just a movie. It is not Archies comics. It is almost as if Chillar Party kids have grown up.

And Agastya Nanda is so handsome! Wait for him to grow up a bit more, and he would soon have fans swooning for him.

The movie is definitely a one-time watch.

Image courtesy: Google