Zoya Akhtar on Young Debutants in The Archies: They came to set trained, they are pros

In an interview with Film Companion, Zoya Akhtar whose upcoming directorial, The Archies starring a bunch of debutants will premiere on Netflix, from cycling to skating and swimming, The Archies gang had their hands on everything.

“Everything, I mean they started from scratch”, Akhtar told Anupama Chopra, “you know they had to read the comics obviously because it's not their generation, they had to read the comics.”

On being asked, “Did they know about The Archies [comics]? Akhtar said, “Of course! Some of them knew more than the others but they all read it. I gave them I don't know how many….how many films to watch just from the period, teenage films, films from the 60s, musicals, different tonality and different musicals from the 60s, musicians from the 60s, you know just different things.”

The lead cast includes Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Yuvraj Menda who underwent massive training for their big debut, “Then they did different acting workshops, they did dance workshops, they did singing workshops, they had to do skating, swimming, cycling, they had to do everything you can think of, then we did an entire workshop with them with the camera, to explain to them what hitting the mark is, because it is a very technical job, catching the light, hitting your mark, what it means to give shoulder, what does it mean to be in a closeup, what does it mean to be in a wide, what is continuity, how is action continuity, what is set protocol. They came to set trained, yeah yeah they’re pros,” Akhtar concluded.

The Archies, adapted from the American popular comic series with the same name is a fictional story of young teenagers from Riverdale which shows their lives enchanted with love, romance, music and facing heartbreaks, rebellion and grief.

The Archies is expected to release on Netflix later this year. Watch the full interview here!