Little Thomas Review: Hridansh Parekh's Innocence Doubled With Restrained Performances By Gulshan Devaiah & Rasika Dugal Sums Up This Flick!
Little Thomas, directed by Kaushal Oza, explores a seven-year-old boy’s quest to understand how babies are made amid his parents’ marital troubles. Hridansh Parekh impresses with his innocence, while Rasika Dugal and Gulshan Devaiah deliver restrained performances. However, the film has shortcomings.
Little Thomas Review: Hridansh Parekh's Innocence Doubled With Restrained Performances By Gulshan Devaiah & Rasika Dugal Sums Up This Flick! | File photo
Director - Kaushal Oza
Cast: Rasika Dugal, Gulshan Devaiah, Hridansh Parekh, Hridyannsh Gokani, Ninad Pandith, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, Aarush Sarda, Aseem Hattangadi, Preeti Sharma, Faezeh Jalali, Sanjay Gurbaxani, Uday Chandra, Cyli Khare
Where: In theatres
Rating: 2 Stars
Many films have been made about children and the innocent world they inhabit, a world full of innocent questions. This week’s release walks a similar path, but with a slight difference. Whether this week's release, Little Thomas, proves to be a 'big' box office hit remains to be seen.
The seven-year-old Thomas (Hridansh Parekh), with all his innocence, asks his parents how babies are made. His father Desmond (Gulshan Devaiah) and mother Jessie (Rasika Dugal) stumble over the question and the explanation their son seeks. This results in them tricking him with an answer, the repercussion of which only leaves Thomas with more questions!
In a ‘quest’ to find the answer, Little Thomas seeks explanations from his nanny, friends and even a church priest—all giving different answers! To make matters worse and challenging for the little Thomas, his parents are on the verge of separation. Whether Little Thomas succeeds in finding an answer to his question amidst the stress and strain on his innocent brain is one of the many answers unfolded as the film progresses.
Actors' performance
Prima facie, although one is reminded of Prakash Jha’s film Rahul, Little Thomas takes a slightly different approach. Right from the word go, Hridansh Parekh is a delight to watch. It won’t be wrong to say, its Hridansh Parekh’s world and we are living in it! Rasika Dugal and Gulshan Devaiah are brilliant as his parents. Their restrained performances (esp Gulshan) act as an icing n the cake! Rest of the actors ably carry the film ahead.
Direction, Music and Aesthetics
Full marks to the film’s director Kaushal Oza for having extracted a stellar performance from his cast, esp. the child actor. Even though one finds solace in Thomas’ cuteness, the director could have explored more of the emotional angle from the child’s perspective, which would have really made a huge difference to the film’s narrative.
The film’s music (Shailendra Barve, Aditya N. and Nayantara Bhatkal) is decently average, unlike the background score that is a cut above the former! Cinematography by Dorian Lucarelli is impressive. On the other hand, the film’s editing is just ok.
FPJ verdict
One reason not to skip the film ‘Little Thomas’ is the child artist Hridansh Parekh’s innocence. On the other hand, there are many other reasons to skip the film!
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