Development In March 2018,
Variety reported that an Indian adaptation of
Archie Comics under the supervision of
Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Graphic India, as a feature film was in development and would feature the fictional music group with an Indian cast. Though there was no further development, in March 2021, Zoya Akhtar was reported to helm the film. Consequently in November, the project was officially confirmed as a
Netflix original film, with Akhtar also directing and producing along with
Reema Kagti under the banner of
Tiger Baby Films. Although the company had previously produced
Gully Boy (2019), this would mark their first independent project. Akhtar, being a self-confessed fan of the comics, wanted the adaptation to be nostalgic and familiar with the comic fans, but also to the millennial generations who had not been familiar with the comics. She wanted to take themes that would resonate with them and blend with the nostalgia, describing it as a film "rooted in reality but being dreamy as well." Many enthusiasts compared the aesthetics of the film with that of the cottage-core genre. Reema Kagti also opined on Akhtar's comments on wanting the film to be relevant with those who had not read the comics. In an interview for
Vogue, Akhtar said that she initially met Devarajan for a different comic adaptation, and during their conversation she expressed her interest in the Archie comics, whose adaptation had been owned and leased to Netflix. Devarajan contacted the executives of Netflix and asked for her involvement on directing the film, to which she eventually agreed.
The Archies was jointly written by Akhtar, Kagti and Ayesha Devitre Dhillon. In order to keep the characters as original to the comics, Akhtar set the storyline in the
Anglo-Indian community, where she and her creative team pulled down several references and met people within the community requesting old photographs for imitating their style. In May 2022, an announcement video for the film revealed the other principal cast members, Mihir Ahuja (Jughead), Aditi "Dot" Saigal (Ethel), Yuvraj Menda (Dilton), and
Vedang Raina (Reggie). Except for Ahuja, the other three also made their debut with this film. The casting garnered criticism owing to
nepotism as three of the principal members were from
film families. Critics also said the principal characters being
light-skinned felt inauthentic to that period. Akhtar rebutted the criticisms, saying that many Indians are light-skinned. Also addressing the nepotism issue, Akhtar said that as the comics only described the love triangle between the principal characters (Archie, Betty and Veronica), it was falsely mentioned to have three leads. However, the film featured seven lead actors. Nanda, Suhana and Khushi gave auditions before their selection. Apart from other principal cast members in the background—Saigal was a singer, whereas Raina was a model and musician who had not thought about acting, Suhana and Khushi had an interest in acting; the former had starred in a few short films. Saigal initially met Akhtar for music, for which she asked her to audition, and Menda was cast after Zoya found him on
Instagram. On 18 April 2022, principal photography for the film began with its first schedule commencing in
The Lawrence School, Lovedale near
Ooty. The schedule was completed within two months. In July 2022, the crew returned to
Mumbai for filming the second schedule, with a skating song under the choreography of
Ganesh Hegde being shot. At the end of the month, another song sequence choreographed by
Bosco–Caesar and few scenes were shot at the Royal Palms in Mumbai for 10 days, which was followed by a subsequent two-month schedule break. Filming resumed in Mumbai in October 2022, across several locations and concluded on 19 December 2022. Many scenes were also filmed in
Mauritius. Throughout the schedule, the cast and crew adhered to safety regulations because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. == Music ==