'I told Agastya's mother, 'Your son will be a star'

'Audiences have not seen a hero like Agastya since Rishi Kapoor in Bobby.'

Javed Akhtar is all praise for The Archies, the Netflix film directed by his daughter, Zoya Akhtar.

"The Archies caters to every section of the audience from age 7 to 70. If you are a youngster, you will connect with the zest of the young cast. If you are from the older generation, you will be transported to the golden days of innocence," he tells Subhash K Jha.

"There was a lady, who was above 70 at the premiere, and she had tears in her eyes. She said she was reminded of her young days when she was addicted to the Archies comics."

Javedsaab feels the film has a nostalgic connect with the audience.

"Everyone would want to see Amitabh's grandson, Shah Rukh's daughter, Sridevi's daughter... All the youngsters have done such competent work! Aapko lagta hai yeh inki pehli picture hai?"

"I told Agastya's mother (Shweta Bachchan Nanda), 'Your son is going to be a star'."

"The concept of the hero so far has been of the toxic, macho man. Here is an unpretentious and masoom hero. Audiences have not seen a hero like Agastya since Rishi Kapoor in Bobby. Agastya will appeal to all youngsters, especially girls."

Javedsaab is reluctant to talk about Zoya.

"Zoya doesn't like me praising her in public. We were at the Aaj Tak event in Delhi where I was asked what I thought of Archies. What should I have said? I really liked Archies and I said so. Zoya is my daughter, even otherwise, I am unlikely to criticise her work in public. She didn't like my praise and scolded me. If I praise her, I get into trouble."