Initially, there was a feeling that one might be getting into another of those "high class bratty rich teen orgy" dramas one finds a surfeit of on the streaming portals. However, it soon revealed itself to be the rather fresh offering it is. So while the teens were there, they weren't all high class (at least on-screen!), and while there was plenty of dating, there was no (on-screen) mating. No drugs, no booze, no gaalis. It was hard to believe it was Netflix!
Then, yeah, just to remind us that it indeed was Netflix, we had an extended sequence, preceded by other brief sequences, to show that Dilton, whom Archies' readers would recall only as the affable class genius, is gay. Mercifully, the other guy does not respond, and we are spared the mauling up of one of our childhood memories. (Well, when I was actually reading those comics, neither was being gay so much a badge of honour and distinction, nor was it something which publications aimed at children could reveal - unlike poor Dumbledore!)
This movie would generally be liked by the Indian readers of Archies. All the characters, and their characteristics, have been transported to Ooty, standing in for Riverdale. A simple device, of making this a town populated by Anglo Indians alone, and keeping the timeline of an era when Anglo Indians actually were a distinct community, ensured that people with brown faces could have the white names. Maybe it also allowed the cast to converse in their high class Hindi accent without it feeling unnatural!
It felt like those High School Musicals from an era bygone. Quite literally. There are high school kids, and they are singing constantly! Indian movies have always contained songs. However, this is modelled purely on the Hollywood musicals - where the narrative carries on seamlessly from dialogues to songs.
The story is kept quite simple. Big bad money guys, conniving with the politicians and public servants, browbeating the conscientious journalists, to hurt the (gasp!) 'Green' Park. Till the teenagers decide on their dating problems and come together to foil those evil plans. However, it is commendable that despite a simplistic plot, the characters are not strictly black and white unidimensional caricatures, but believable beings. My mother had watched the movie before me, and she had predicted I would like it. It's been 38 years since I have been born - and her sense of my likes and dislikes has got quite worn out over time! In this case though, she was spot on. It was largely an enjoyable movie, as long as the lengthy songs and dances were skipped. Maybe part of it was nostalgic. We had glimpses of Hardy Boys, and Ruskin Bond, and the whole movie was a reference to the Archies' comics. Then, there were some quite healthy character dynamics - in the world of "Animal" (which despite all the forewarning we would watch tomorrow, because of plain FOMO), we have that scene where Betty and Veronica decide that their friendship is more important that the unsure affections of a confused teenager. A big part of it was a yearning for simpler things - like after perforce courses of greasy spicy "delicacies" that overload your senses, you just delight in plain dal-chawal.
Of course, no commentary about this movie would be complete without a few words about the star-babies. First of all, it is not really nepotism, when you have to face the crowd as the ultimate judge. Parents in any free market profession, when successful enough, give their offsprings a better start than those not successful enough. Note the words "free market". The offsprings face this same free market, which decides whether they would ultimately fail or sail. Just as one cannot blame a successful businessman handing down a running business to his son, or a fresh minted lawyer joining her uncle's firm, or a new doctor turning up at the family hospital, we cannot really judge a kid of a movie artist using his or her family ties to get a break. For that matter, even politicians cannot be blamed for promoting their children - after all, these kids also have to face the public vote only. There is a very stark example of nepotism in our public life, where important public positions are cornered without a selection on merit, and without election, almost solely on the basis of who knows whom. Yet, we cannot say it aloud - You Know Who!
That said, almost all the teenage looking actors did well. I must say that Mr. Nanda is the best looking Bachchan till now! Expressive too. He should do well. The other standout for me was Betty Cooper, whose toothy smile reminded me so very much of Anne Hathaway from The Devil Wears Prada!
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