Is The Archies DCH/ZNMD of this decade?

Dil Chahta Hai came in 2001, at the start of that decade. It was a coming of age story of three friends.

Movie mostly appealed to the audience of urban and metro cities since the characters belonged to that demographic. Middle class people had a hard time relating to such characters.

Hence the movie was an Average grosser at the box office but went on to become a cult film among it's target audience.

A decade later Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara released in 2011. It was considered DCH of it's time since it also focused on three friends and again was a coming of age tale. That movie is even less relatable to the average Indian since it featured three richer guys who can go in foreign trips and do adventure sports.

Movie was critically acclaimed and got much appreciation among it's target audience. It was also a Hit but many people made comparisons with DCH and called it an inferior product.

Now after another decade we have The Archies. Again the product coming from Akhtar family. Again the story would focus mostly on three friends (two of them girls this time since feminism), played by actors who are nepo-kids just like DCH and ZNMD.

This movie would be far less relatable to the Indian audience even compared to DCH and ZNMD. It's completely set in some other universe, not resembling the real world. It's supposed to be an Indian adaption of Archies, but really the only thing which looks Indian about it is it features Indian actors.

This won't be a slice of life film like DCH and ZNMD and the only way to strike a chord with the audience would be through it's emotional content and the chemistry between the cast and characters.

Let's see if it gets cult status or even critical acclaim like the other two films.

No idea, but I can't wait for the Team Suhana and Team Khushi folks after the inevitable KWK episode .After all the nepo kids suck talk, I just know people will fall for these two, hook, line and sinker.

They will also quickly drop them after they realize both of them will also flop with every film..

Hard to say

Considering this is Zoya, there will most likely be a solid script in place even if the story is a one liner, and that will tend to resonate with a fair section of the urban audience. It will also most probably have really good music as is the case with most Excel Entertainment movies. DCH and ZNDM can still be found making most top 10 lists of Bollywood soundtracks

One thing DCH and ZNMD had, which Archies might lack is good actors and good performances. I mean these movies boasted of having solid actors in main roles as well as cameos: Aamir, Saif, Akshaye, Hrithik, Abhay, Farhan, Priety, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Suhasini Mulay, Rajat Kapoor, Deepti Naval. They bring a certain conviction to their roles and elevate the script with their performances. Katrina was the only weak link and even she did okay

Archies is a bunch of newbies doing their first movie. Zoya is going to have her hands full here trying to extract good performances from them

It's hard to tell without having watched the movie. I would rather not judge the storyline from the teaser. From what I have seen so far though, the major factor that both DCH (more so) and ZNMD had and ZA's Archies lacks is relatability. For movies based on nostalgic concepts the audience would always want to feel connected to the characters and be transported back to the good ol days. I didn't feel that about the teaser. It largely has a HW and sitcom esque feel and the sepia filter makes it feel like a French countryside rom-com drama. Not even remotely Indian.

Originally posted by: McGorgeous

No idea, but I can't wait for the Team Suhana and Team Khushi folks after the inevitable KWK episode .After all the nepo kids suck talk, I just know people will fall for these two, hook, line and sinker.

They will also quickly drop them after they realize both of them will also flop with every film..

This is so apt, almost feels like a personal attack. When Alia debuted, found her extremely blah, cut to a decade later (I think?), she is one of my favourite actresses in the recent lot. 😆

Can't comment a thing about this movie since we haven't even watched the trailer but at a personal level, one of the reasons why I like to revisit DCH is because the characters were older to me when I first watched them, so now when I go back to these movies, the same scenes hit differently, I perceive them differently, the nuances are more visible, it is nice to ponder over some situations and the way the characters have reacted to them. Moreover, DCH has given a very attainable goal of a trip to Goa with friends, so even that way the legacy of the movie lives on till date. Some movies become cults because audience can revisit them again and again over different phases and still enjoy them. Intrinsically these movies always have some cultural context which people relate to, at large.

ZNMD was pretty entertaining when I watched it, but somehow it feels flakey after a point. If at all, I revisit the movie, I mostly enjoy it for the bits of Farhan and his comedy. I don't think if this has anything to do with the question you posed, but just felt like writing this comparison. 😆

Idk about all that but I just wanna say one thing - never in my life have I seen a bunch of uglier people in one frame.

This isn't going to work..they have taken Indian actors but given them American look..that too weird..it's distracting

And Archie comics r so much ingrained in our minds, those r the faces we remember..relating to new actors would be very difficult.

One takeaway of the film would be Suhana

Originally posted by: Reemadoresyou

Idk about all that but I just wanna say one thing - never in my life have I seen a bunch of uglier people in one frame.

Was really tempted to post a pic of Narenda-Amit-Aditya, but too scared I will be jailed for it

Does it matter if protagonists are Uber rich

Kai Po Che was about strugglers and their friendship but didnt reach the heights of the other 2