In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones

Based on a screenplay by a then-28-year-old Arundhati Roy, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones at first appears to be a modest and playful depiction of student life in the 1970s. But Roy’s story of Annie (Arjun Raina), a New Delhi architecture student caught in a vicious cycle of failing and repeating his studies, gradually reveals itself as a sharp and poignant portrayal of youth, deftly poised between hope and cynicism. (Roy herself quietly steals the show in her onscreen turn as Radha, Annie’s friend and an independent young woman proud of her nonconformist ways.) Directed by Roy’s husband Pradip Krishen and based on her own university experiences, the English-language film was originally made for television and circulated exclusively on VHS for many years. This new restoration, which made use of the 16mm camera negative, as well as a 35mm print, finally brings this deeply pleasurable film to the big screen where it belongs. A Several Futures release.