From Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Cocktail, who is the real Archie of Bollywood?

Recently, Netflix unveiled the first trailer of the much-awaited film The Archies at its annual global fan event Tudum in São Paulo, Brazil. Naysayers may scream ‘nepotism!’ because it’s also the debut vehicle of a new generation of actors from Bollywood ‘royalty’. Agastya Nanda, the grandson of revered actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan plays Archie Andrews, Betty is played by Khushi Kapoor (late actor Sridevi’s daughter) while superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana is Veronica in this live-action musical film by Zoya Akhtar.

The Archies reimagines the beloved Archie comics (founded in the 1940s) about a bunch of never-ageing teenagers of Riverdale, a fictional American suburb. The iconic characters Archie, Betty and Veronica are loved globally and carry the weight of vibrant nostalgia for generations. Here, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti have shifted the setting to an Indian hill station in the 1960s. Now ‘Official Adaptation’ and all that jazz is definitely alluring, but the truth is that we have already known and seen these characters in multiple Bollywood films, and some of them have even achieved cult status. Archie Comics have unofficially ‘inspired’ a number of Bollywood films over the years. The love triangle of a boy (The Archies), a girl-next-door (Betty) and a rich girl, gorgeous (Veronica) has been a recurring theme in Bollywood since decades. Never officially, though. We just believe in getting ‘inspired’

Though there might be many Hindi movies loosely based on similar characters, I’ll talk about the ones I remember watching. Let’s begin with the most iconic one — Mansoor Khan’s Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992). Here Dehradun became Riverdale, Archie was Sanju (Aamir Khan), Betty was Anjali (Ayesha Jhulka) who falls for Sanju (Aamir Khan) while Sanju is smitten with rich, gorgeous Veronica (Pooja Bedi), who even does a Marilyn Monroe on a car’s bonnet. Overflow of ‘inspiration’, isn’t it? It also had a Reggie Mantle in Shekhar Malhotra (Deepak Tijori). Aamir Khan with his ‘pajama chhaap’ middle-class model school friends versus the rich Rajput school boys, the film is also one of the most delightful memories of my childhood. I feel this film went beyond its inspiration. It has a warm aura and the dreamy Pehla Nasha.

And then there is Karan Johar’s blockbuster Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). In his memoir An Unsuitable Boy, Johar admitted that the first half of his directorial debut was inspired by Archie Comics. The Xavier’s college in the film was nothing but a Bollywoodish version of Riverdale while SRK-Kajol-Rani were our Archie-Betty-Veronica. Interestingly, like in JJWS, the Betty Cooper-inspired character was named Anjali in KKHH, too. So we had the tomboy Anjali (Kajol) falling for ‘Archie’ Rahul and then arrives the glamorous mini-skirt-clad-bhajan-singing Tina (Rani Mukerji) playing Veronica. The similarities didn’t end here. The character of the college principal, Mr Malhotra (Anupam Kher), was influenced by Mr Weather’s character while Ms Grundy of Archie Comics became Ms Briganza (Archana Puran Singh) in Johar’s iconic hit. So enamoured was Karan Johar by Archie Comics that while launching a new generation of stars (Alia, Varun and Siddharth) more than a decade later in Student of The Year (2012), he went back to his favourite characters.

I also remember watching Ken Ghosh’s Ishq Vishk (2003) in a houseful Delhi theatre simply because we had a crush on the gorgeous Shenaz Treasurywala, who was ‘Veronica’ to Shahid Kapoor’s ‘Archie’ while sanskari (traditional) Amrita Rao was Betty personified. Ishq Vishk also has a Jughead-inspired character called Mambo (played by actor Vishal Malhotra). So here Mambo and Payal (Amrita) come together like Jughead and Betty after she is dumped by Archie. In terms of treatment and mood, this film remains closest to the dreamy, romantic world of Archie Comics.

Later, director Homi Adjania was more upfront when he simply named Deepika Padukone’s rich-glam character Veronica in Cocktail (2012). His ‘Archie’ Saif Ali Khan falls for wild Veronica only to go back to the conventional ‘Betty’ Diana Penty, who is also his mother’s favourite.

And do you remember Mujhse Dosti Karoge (2002)? I’ll hold it against you if you really do. This was a pathetic adaptation of the Archie Comics characters. Hrithik Roshan was the quintessential Archie, Rani played Betty while Kareena was Veronica, a performance which seemed like an irritating extension of Poo (her character in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham). The director ruined the wonderful casting to make the most tedious film of that decade.

But all these ‘inspired’ films prove these characters have an inherent charm and their emotions are still relatable. Producer Reema Kagti recently said, “We are not dealing with characters who might be Veronica or Betty but our Archies is a true adaptation of the comic.”

There have been regular efforts of rebranding in the last few years. The most prominent one was Riverdale, which premiered on CW in 2017. It is a contemporary adaptation with mysterious twists to the romantic drama. It became so popular that the characters from the series achieved iconic status and spawned a wide range of merchandise. The CW series (on Netflix) is currently in the midst of its seventh and final season and then Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies will be released on Netflix later this year. So you can expect that the characters of Archie, Betty and Veronica will remain a part of our lives, and their experiences with love, heartbreak, friendship and adventures of growing up will perhaps resonate with new generations, too. At least Bollywood is hoping to do that with The Archies.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com