Zoya Akhtar has been recieving flak for making films that are about rich people and how the middle class cannot relate to the content she helms. Now, the criticism has increased tenfold after the teaser and cast of her upcoming film The Archies. People have said that the cast taken onboard the film including Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Vedang Raina and others do not “look” Indian. So far Zoya Akhtar had been quiet and not responding to any backlash but not anymore. She has countered and questioned the trolls by asking them what it means to be an Indian.
In an interview with Mid-Day at Netflix’s fan festival Tudum, Zoya Akhtar shared her thoughts on the backlash. She went on to ask how can one think that The Archies cast does not look Indian. Elaborating more, she said this is ‘reverse racism’ where fair Indians are not considered Indians. She also went on to question how one defines an Indian person.
Talking about it more, the Dil Dhadakne Do filmmaker said that Hrithik Roshan, Rajinikanth, Diljit Dosanjh and Mary Kom are all Indians and that there are several light-skinned people in the country who are Indians.
These are just excuses for people to say trash about a film that stars celebrity kids. The film also received major backlash for only taking on board star kids and called this the peak of nepotism as well.
Also read: Zoya Akhtar Reveals The Archies Cast Had A Training Boot Camp, Shares The Advice She Gave The Newcomers
Based on the comics, The Archies is going to be set in Riverdale, a town in North India. The film will focus on the lives of these six friends, their friendship and the heartbreak they experience. The film will release on Netflix soon. The cast of the film including Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Vedang Raina, Yuvraj Menda, Aditi Dot and Mihir Ahuja all gave their first performance together at the Tudum event in Brazil.