Exclusive | Zoya Akhtar: I'm vicariously re-debuting with The Archies

Zoya Akhtar was with the team of The Archies at the Netflix Tudum 2023 held in Sao Paolo, Brazil, where she spoke to Mid-day exclusively about making the film

Zoya Akhtar has worked with a band of newcomers in her upcoming directorial, The Archies. The cast includes debutantes like Yuvraj Menda, Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Aditi Saigal, Janhvi Kapoor’s sister Khushi Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan, and Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda. The Archies is based on the high school student characters from the iconic comic series set in Riverdale. 

The team was at the Netflix Tudum event held at Sao Paolo, Brazil, recently, where the first teaser of the film was released. Mid-day’s Mayank Shekhar spoke to Zoya exclusively at the event, where she was flanked by the young stars of the film.

When asked if she also has to double up as a guardian while travelling with them so far from home, Zoya said, “This is not the Von Trapp family, I am not their governess, where I have seven kids like in The Sound of Music, no. The Netflix team is taking care of them. They are young adults, the crew is here, it is a professional setup. They don’t need nannies.”

So is she like the principal of Riverdale High? “I am too truant to be a principal,” said Zoya.

Her directorial filmography includes Luck By Chance, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Gully Boy. This is the first time she is working with a lead cast which has never been on screen before. 

"I have worked with people whose first film it was, but not leads, supporting parts, maybe. It’s been amazing. I am kind of vicariously re-debuting with them. There’s nothing like the experience of your first movie. You tend to forget that, you tend to get jaded and focus on other things. With them, you are suddenly seeing things with a different lens – everything for the first time. It was very rejuvenating for me. I am a little spoilt because suddenly you have a cast, that's so enthusiastic and hard-working, and at the same time they do not come with any star-fittings. They are part of the crew, they just happen to be in front of the camera. So, you get very spoilt with the time that you have with them, with the ease that you have, and what they bring to the table. There’s no baggage. There’s only hunger and joy,” she said.

Watch the full video here:

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