High School Musical meets Bollywood in this adorably upbeat and slightly surreal Indian take on the Archie Comics.
The Archies won't be everyone's cup of chai, with its beautiful cast, corny jokes, and wide-eyed love songs (and definitely don't question its historical accuracy).
But if you're willing to suspend notions of reality and go along for the ride, it's an enjoyably eccentric flashback to classical Hollywood teen musicals with the originality of an Indian setting and cast.
Bad guy Hiram looks like an East Asian Clark Gable, menacing mustache and all, and the gorgeous cast is dressed to the 1960s nines.
Perhaps because of the imagined time and place, they pull off an innocence the High School Musical kids only play at.
But its themes of loving your friends, making your community your home, and listening to young people are universal.
Read the full review at Common Sense Media.
Images courtesy of Netflix.
