Opinion ‘The Archies’ – why it’s important for Gen Z, nepo kids and all

It encourages young people to fight for the causes they believe in, whether their protest registers a difference is irrelevant

It encourages people to walk out when they are treated unfairly and, most of all, it pushes the youth to raise their voices. (Source: IMDb)

Adya Goyal

December 9, 2023 10:00 AM IST First published on: Dec 9, 2023 at 10:00 AM IST

From capitalism, free speech, democracy and open access to public spaces to questions about their future, Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies, set in 1964, encapsulates the anxieties of Gen Z in 2023. Akhtar’s adaptation of the 1941 comic invites those born post-2000 to identify with the trials and tribulations of being young in a confusing world.

The group’s understanding of corporate greed and development is formulated early through personal experiences: Betty (Khushi Kapoor) has to navigate the closing of her father’s bookshop in favour of a bookstore chain — the Amazon of analogue times; Reggie’s (Vedang Raina) father, editor of the local newspaper, is unable to publish a petition to save their beloved Green Park because richie rich developer Hiram Lodge, Veronica’s father, is behind the destroy-Green-Park-for-hotel project. But, that’s not what’s stopping Mantle Senior. It’s the fact that Lodge is also his paper’s biggest advertiser. Tragic, because the community park is where, according to Archie’s (Agastya Nanda) dad, the children took their “first steps in independent India”.

Meanwhile, other members of the gang attend to quandaries in their personal lives. Archie has to decide between moving to England for college or following in his father’s Swades-esque footsteps and staying in India to “give back”. Ethel (Dot) desires greener pastures but puts her foot down when her boss is rude to her. She returns to her former employer and to a culture of mutual respect. There is a sense of comfort in knowing that those decades ago faced some of the same challenges the tweens and teens do now.

Since Akhtar announced The Archies in 2021, there has been a flurry of debate around the “nepo” bandwagon cast in the film. And long before it was released, trolls had given it a 2.2/10 IMDb rating. Of course, there is much to discuss when it comes to the blatantly unfair opportunities hand-delivered to Suhana Khan and Agastya Nanda. But aside from that debate around the film, there is also much in the film for the rest of us to come away with. It urges young people to stand up and fight for the causes they believe in, whether their protest registers a difference is irrelevant. It encourages people to walk out when they are treated unfairly and, most of all, it pushes the youth to raise their voices. If the newspaper won’t take your petition, find your own radio and broadcast your message even louder.

adya.goyal@expressindia.com