The Archies: Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, and Suhana Khan defended by casting directors over nepotism tag

The Archies, directed by Zoya Akhtar, recently wrapped filming last month. Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan, Sridevi’s daughter Khushi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda will be making their Bollywood debut with this film. The movie's first look attracted a lot of criticism from netizens who accused it of nepotism for using star kids in an ensemble drama.

The casting directors of The Archies, Nandini Shrikent and Abhishek Banerjee revealed details about the casting process in a recent interview, including the fact that all three of the lead kids gave auditions. Nandini stated, “Any industry you look at, the next generation takes over. If someone fits the role, they deserve the opportunity because they fit the role. Each one is very specifically, super-perfect for the role they’ve been cast in. We didn’t just go over with these roles on a platter to the three star kids and say ‘Here they are!’ A lot of people tested for various roles and then this fell in place."

Abhishek added, “Sometimes you might not know an actor or it’s possible that you can’t trust whether he’ll do a good job on set. Versus a guy or girl who comes from a filmy background and you automatically know that they’re well versed. Even that star kid, they will also learn through the process. Once they are on the set, they will have to learn."

Meanwhile, The Archies is slated to release on Netflix.