The trailer of the much-awaited upcoming Netflix film ‘The Archies’, by Zoya Akhtar, was unveiled on Thursday. The film stars Mihir Ahuja, Aditi Saigal, Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Yuvraj Menda, Agastya Nanda and Vedang Raina.?

Now the filmmaker and her frequent collaborator Reema Kagti have opened up about how they casted the young actors for ‘The Archies’. Sharing how the casting process was “quite rigorous” and all the actors were tested for all the characters, Reema Kagti shared in an interview with Puja Talwar, “The credit goes to our casting directors Nandini Shrikent and Karan Mally. They held extensive tests and several rounds of tests before they came to Zoya. We didn’t go with any pre-decided notions that this actor has to be that character. The kids were not given any point of reference and they were tested for all the parts. It was only after four-five rounds when they finally came to Zoya and even after that Zoya sat with them. It was quite a rigorous round of testing and auditioning and I think we have arrived with the best people to play the parts.”

Zoya Akhtar further revealed that Khushi Kapoor was one of the first actors to be cast in the role of Betty Cooper.?

She said, “I think the person who was cast first was Betty and cast last was Archie. I think each one has surprised us in some way or the other. Ethel is a musician. Dot is a musician, and I met her to do the music. I follow her on YouTube, that’s how I know her. I met her because I wanted some of her music for the film. While I was having a conversation with her, I was like, ‘Oh my god, she’s Ethel (Muggs).’ I tested her, and she was great. She was in Wales, and I was in Bombay, so we did the test on Zoom.”

Speaking about casting ‘Made In Heaven’ actor Mihir Ahuja, Zoya said, “And there was Mihir who had been cast in Made In Heaven by another director, and I directed him in a dramatic scene. It was a scene where he had to start crying, and I just kept looking at his face and saying he can be Jughead. But I didn’t know if he can do comedy and if he is comedic.”

Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan is also making her film debut with ‘The Archies’, and Zoya knew that Suhana was already training to be an actor. “Suhana was already acting. She was in a school in New York. She was training to be an actor, so we knew she wanted to act. Vedang was a model and musician. He did four or five auditions before it came to me. So, they came from all over the place,” Zoya said.

‘The Archies’ is slated to release on Netflix on December 7.