The Archies (2023) directed by Zoya Akhtar
Keenly anticipating the release of the film, The Archies, an entire population of young and middle-aged folks flooded movie theatres across India. Much like my many peers and friends who were avid readers of the Archie comics, I too was counting the days till its release. In the midst of completing my Ph.D., I stayed up late one night, dedicating 3 hours to watching the film (something that is quite a luxury in a doctorate program), and once it was over, I turned off the television and sat on the sofa seriously contemplating why the film left me utterly disappointed and in disbelief.
The Archies originally premiered at the 54th International Film Festival of India on November 22nd, 2023, and was released on Netflix on 7th of December 2023. The much-awaited musical film, though directed and produced beautifully, with brilliant song and dance scenes (perfect for the Indian audience globally), imaginative and creative sets, inspiring 60s costumes, and progressive messaging on matters such as ecological conservation and youth empowerment, there remained an overarching concern—the issue of colonialist and imperialist imagery and representation. Let us be reminded that India was under the colonial rule of the British for nearly 200 years— the British empire in India was established at the Battle of Plassey on the 23rd of June 1757, and India became an independent nation on the 14th of August 1947; the day Jawaharlal Nehru issued his infamous speech on “India’s tryst with destiny.” This context is important because not only is 200 years a long time but India has only been independent for 76 years, thus making this film further more problematic.
Now, this is not a film review and I am not a film critic, though I do come from an art background and have watched numerous Bollywood, Indian, international, and independent films, and simultaneously read numerous critical articles (mainstream and academic) on film critiques, I refrain from the more common critiques that are usually offered by most film and media critics. Being a gender studies and a transnational scholar, further allows me to look at films through a socio-cultural and an anthropological lens.
Akhtar and the numerous other professionals involved in the creation of The Archies have many empowering messages— many that I can imagine would be enormously critiqued by the Modi entourage, and I am fully aware that though I love the idea of promoting a more progressive and modern India, I do not feel that that can only be achieved through representing an Anglicized India as the one who hold a moral compass and have refined etiquette. Lets get to the details:
The film begins with an introduction to an Anglo-Indian community/town called Riverdale. Riverdale is a quaint hill-station town (much like the summer destination of Shimla) minus the “barbaric native dark-skinned Indians.” People living in Riverdale are Anglo-Indians, and for the most part, they are comprised of an educated lot, with libraries, schools, bookstores, and coffee shops, and people in general are respectful and respectable, have high morals, maintain their Anglicized behaviors. In the heart of Riverdale is the treasure of the town, a park named “Green Park” where all trees have been planted by every single member of the community for generations; a much-honored heart and soul of the ancestry of Riverdale. However, as the film needs to depict some level of corruption and villains, a couple of wealthy politicians of Riverdale are keen to tear down Green Park and in place build a luxury hotel resort, bringing in thousands of tourists from across the world, and ultimately becoming an economic power hub. But it is the students of Riverdale (Veronica, Betty, Archie, and friends) who fight back to preserve the history of Green Park and thus, their identity as young Anglo-Indians with morals. What we are left to see towards the near end of the film, is a scene where dark-skinned, “uncouth,” barefooted, native Indians come to Riverdale in their dirty tractors and filthy clothes to tear down Green Park. Native people, who according to the imagery, have little to no morals, and will do anything for money. Natives, who will “destroy” the heart and soul of Ango-India— thus the depiction of natives as people who must be shunned and to an extent feared, who should be naturally “othered” speaks volumes in what is a modern 21st-century film after 76 years of independence from the British.
The Archies is a wonderful film, … aesthetically. And though it projects numerous well-meaning, progressive ideologies…the fact still remains, that well-meaning, progressive, non-violent, and moralistic grounds of governance are still largely practiced by Anglo-Indians, and not so much by native Indians. And that… is a problem.
