The Archies is a Bollywood nepo baby vehicle which adapts the Archie comics, huge in India. Beautiful art direction, costumes, cinematography and dance, on a quick skim.

It transplants the gang into Anglo-Indians at boarding school in the hill station of Ooty. The refs are more British than American: someone wears a Union Jack bowtie, someone’s off to school in London.

Former model Kamal Sidhu 🇨🇦 plays an evil hotel developer’s wife, called “the American.”

One musical number has a great shot where the camera recedes from light-footed dancers on a circular track.

Bollywood’s doing sunny American ’50s while T••••’s trying to revive the dark side :)

With mild b-boy update:

Instead of the blond girl next door vs. brunette vamp, they’re all dark-haired Veronicas. So they lighten “Betty’s” hair a bit.

A Kapoor playing a “Cooper” is a “Goodness Gracious Me” sketch come to life :D