Anurag Kashyap returns to children's film genre with Little Thomas

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is making a children's genre movie after 17 years. He is producing 'Little Thomas', which is set to premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne

Anurag Kashyap, who is popularly known for movies like Gangs of Wasseypur, Ugly, and Kennedy, is ready with his next project titled Little Thomas. The movie features Gulshan Devaiah and Rasika Duggal as protagonists, who are joined by child artist Hridansh Parekh in the comedy-drama movie.

While talking about the movie the director said he was waiting for the good children's movie script to come his way. Kashyap is returning after 17 years to children’s genre after his 2007 animated directorial Hanuman. "It’s a difficult genre actually, to make an authentic children’s film, so one has to ensure that it’s a good script before making it," he added. 

Little Thomas will premiere at the coming Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Kashyap was impressed by the vision of National Award-winning director Kaushal Oza, who made his feature directorial debut. The movie revolves around a 7-year-old boy who tries to bring his parents together and have a little brother. 

Kashyap said, “I had seen Kaushal’s short The Miniaturist of Junagadh and liked it. Then I read the Little Thomas script and understood his vision for it. He wanted to make a genuine children’s film while creating a world from a kid’s perspective. The honesty of his approach has helped make the film.”

The movie was set in the 90s following Thomas, the only child who desperately wants a younger brother. One day he is told that to have a baby brother, his parents have to kiss. The boy has quarrelling parents and they no longer kiss, Thomast takes it as a challenge and makes them do the “yucky act.” 

Director Kaushal Oza, an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, said that the team auditioned over 700 kids to find the perfect Thomas and the gang. He mentioned that we all were seven years old once and missed the innocence of the time we were kids. He said he wanted to capture the innocence and imagination that we had and now we yearn for that. 

Oza also said that everyone loved the script but production was a challenge. "When this team of producers read the script – they laughed, they cried – they backed it to the hilt. Also, casting the kids was the biggest challenge,” he added. 

Little Thomas is produced under the banner of Luminoso Pictures, Civic Studios, Flip Films and Good Bad Films.