“‘The Archies’ is not conventional Karan Johar, ‘Student of The Year’ type film.”

Monitoring Desk

MUMBAI: British-Pakistani actor Alyy Khan defended his latest Bollywood film ‘The Archies’, amidst all the criticism around the star kids debut title.

After much anticipation, Zoya Akhtar’s ‘The Archies’, finally premiered on the streaming giant Netflix earlier this month, opening to mixed reviews from critics. While audiences appreciated the film for Zoya Akhtar’s aesthetics and direction, it was particularly panned for being the ‘nepo kids fest’, who for their life couldn’t act.

Notably, the teenage musical comedy starred debutantes Suhana Khan (daughter of Shahrukh Khan), Khushi Kapoor (daughter of late actor Sridevi) and Agastya Nanda (grandson of Amitabh Bachchan) as Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews respectively, along with Mihir Ahuja, Yuvraj Menda, Aditi ‘Dot’ Saigal and Vedang Raina.

However, amidst all the criticism, actor Alyy Khan, who plays the pivotal role of Hiram Lodge (Veronica’s father) in the title, defended ‘The Archies’, dubbing it as anything but a ‘conventional Bollywood film’. “I think it is a very good film. I think it’s extremely nuanced. It’s emotional without being Hindi filmy or melodramatic…It’s not your conventional Hindi film, Student of The Year, Karan Johar type. It’s a very elegant film; subtle and mature.”

‘Mere Humsafar’ actor even went ahead to shower praises on the celebrity kids, maintaining that there was no such ‘star kid’ factor among the ensemble cast members and everyone worked together like a family. “They worked really hard, supremely trained, totally dedicated, thoroughly professional,” he said of the debutante actors.

Moreover, Khan, who has had the chance to work alongside Suhana’s father, Shahrukh Khan as well in ‘Don 2’, defended her against all the hate and trolling and said, “It’s not her fault that she’s Shahrukh’s kid. She shouldn’t be embarrassed about it. But did Suhana throw a tantrum? Did she throw a strop? Did she ever make you feel like she was Shahrukh Khan’s kid? Never.”

“She was the loveliest, the friendliest, the most hardworking…There was no attitude from everyone,” he reiterated.