Agastya Nanda, son of Shweta Bachchan Nanda and Nikhil Nanda and grandson of Amitabh Bachchan, made his acting debut in Zoya Akhtar’s musical The Archies. He stepped into the limelight with his debut as Archie Andrews alongside newcomers Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Dot, Vedang Raina, and Yuvraj Mendra. Mihir Ahuja had prior experience in OTT space. Released on Netflix on December 7, 2023, the film had mixed reactions from the audience and critics. Agastya, acknowledging the criticism, has expressed his thoughts on the same.
In an interview with The Film Companion, Agastya Nanda reacted to the reactions saying, “Honestly, I didn’t know how to deal with it. When you are not prepped in this area, you don’t know that many people have many opinions. And that’s okay, you must have your opinion but I didn’t know what was going on. Some people hated it, some people liked it, some people were indifferent to it and that’s ok.”
He believes that The Archies didn’t work on some levels and he is okay with that. It was his first project and he plans to work hard in the future. “On some levels, it didn’t work and that’s ok. It’s my first try and I am going to work hard and get back up, try for the second and if that doesn’t work then try for the third and then the fourth but to get to that realization took me some time,” said the actor.
Reflecting on the opportunity, he added, “I made six lovely friends, I got brilliant exposure. I got to showcase myself on a huge platform. I was grateful, it's ok, people would kill for this opportunity. I shouldn’t sit here and feel low about it. I gave it my best and I’ll keep giving it my best.”
When spoken about his uncle Abhishek Bachchan, who had also faced similar criticism in his early years, Agastya was informed that his ‘mama’ would put up posters of negative reviews on his wall. But, Agastya said that it was a bit too dark for him. “I think everyone has to do it. I don’t put up negative things because why keep reminding yourself of it. Be aware of it, don’t be ignorant. I did learn. I just watched the film and see what’s happening and I just watched where I can improve, like any person in any field would do. Obviously, when you look at it I was like ‘Oh God what was I doing there, why did I say’ but I am not putting anything up on my wall. It’s a bit too dark,” he said.
The Archies, helmed by Zoya Akhtar, was produced by Tiger Baby. ALSO READ: Agastya Nanda makes Instagram debut; see first post
