Zoya Akhtar put Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda through intense 1-year workshop, reveals Archies actor Alyy Khan: ‘If you’re not as sharp as a razor after this…’

He said in Urdu, “The film has Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson in the lead, Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter is there, Sridevi’s daughter is there as well. Zoya made them do a workshop for one year before they even faced the camera. One year. And during that year, they worked in T-shirts and shorts, without any pressure, no press, no publicity, no cameras. Only the choreographer was there, only the dialogue coach was there. So, after one year, when you perform before the camera, if you aren’t as sharp as a razor blade, then you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Who allows this much time these days?” Alyy continued, highlighting the difference between the Indian and Pakistani film industries. He said that in India, if the shift is delayed by even 10 minutes, the producer can fire assistant directors, while in Pakistan, producers dance the ‘bhangra’ if they’re able to start rolling two hours after the allotted time.

Alyy Khan recently appeared in the Apple TV+ series Shantaram, and has three Indian projects lined up — The Archies, directed by Zoya Akhtar; Tehran, starring John Abraham; and the Hindi remake of The Good Wife, starring Kajol. The Archies also features Yuvraj Menda, Vedang Raina, and Dot. The film will be released on Netflix this year.