In a crumbling Goan bakery in the 1990s, a wedding cake keeps collapsing under the weight of its own bride and groom. It is a neat little image for Little Thomas, a film about a family quietly buckling under pressure, seen through the eyes of a seven-year-old who has just one burning question: where do babies come from, and how can he get a little brother of his own?
Its sweetness is real; the trouble is that it rarely trusts that sweetness to speak for itself.
Movie at a Glance
- Director: Kaushal Oza (feature debut)
- Cast: Gulshan Devaiah, Rasika Dugal, Hridansh Parekh, Ninad Pandith, Hridyaansh Gokani, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal
- Genre: Family comedy-drama
- Runtime: About 125 minutes
- Language: Hindi and English
- India release: In cinemas from 23 October 2026
- US release: Limited US cinemas from 23 October 2026 (Times Music)
- UK availability: No UK release date has been confirmed yet
- Backing: Presented with the support of Anurag Kashyap
Viewer Match
- Best for: Families and anyone nostalgic for gentle, low-stakes childhood comedies and small-town settings.
- Maybe skip if: Relentless cuteness grates, or you want a sharper, more probing portrait of a marriage in trouble.
- Mood and pace: Unhurried, warm and whimsical, with a stronger, more emotional second half.
- Cinema or streaming? Streaming will suit it well; it is an intimate film that does not need the big screen.
- Spoiler level: Spoiler-free: nothing beyond the established premise.
A Child’s-Eye View of a Grown-Up Crisis
Kaushal Oza’s debut feature is built on a sweet idea. Thomas, played by Hridansh Parekh, is told by a kindly neighbour that a baby brother will arrive if his parents stop fighting and kiss. His parents, Desmond and Jessie, are struggling: the family bakery is losing ground to bigger, newer rivals in post-liberalisation India, and Jessie’s piano pupils are drifting away to imported video games. So Thomas sets about fixing his parents’ marriage with a seven-year-old’s logic.
At its best the film achieves a rare, unhurried quality, a deliberate counterpoint to the noise of so much contemporary Hindi cinema. Oza captures the inner life of children with real affection, and the kids’ wild theories about reproduction, gravity and shiny apples are often genuinely funny.
Hridansh Parekh, Gulshan Devaiah and Rasika Dugal
Parekh is wonderfully endearing as Thomas, all curls, toothy grin and earnest determination, and it is impossible not to root for him. His scenes with his friends Nigel and Murthy give the film much of its energy, even if the child performances can feel raw and the dialogue sometimes sounds too polished, like adult punchlines in small mouths.
Gulshan Devaiah and Rasika Dugal are dependable anchors. Devaiah makes Desmond a lovable stubborn idealist, still baking from a decades-old recipe and refusing to cut corners, while Dugal brings a quiet solemnity to Jessie, though at times the material gives her too little to play. Both handle the Goan flavour of the dialogue without tipping into caricature.
Too Cute for Its Own Good?
The film’s weakness is a self-satisfied cuteness. For long stretches it is content to coast on adorable moments, and just as it begins to explore the real strain in Desmond and Jessie’s marriage it skips back to another whimsical set piece. The tonal shifts can undercut the seriousness of the family’s troubles, and the financial hardship looks rather too clean and well-lit to bite.
It finds firmer footing in the second half. As Thomas’s schemes hit dead ends, the marital conflict comes into focus and the film gains an unexpected unpredictability. A post-wedding dance in which the couple briefly rediscover their younger selves has a lovely old-school warmth, and the emotion finally lands.
A Gently Magical Look and Sound
Dorian Lucarelli’s cinematography gives 1990s Goa a soft, golden glow, and Oza has fun blending everyday sounds into the music: a hammer on a chair slipping into the score, violin notes accompanying a family tooth-brushing ritual that becomes a telling motif. The production design of the ageing bakery is lovingly detailed.
The result is a pleasant, well-meaning family film with a beautiful look and a winning young lead, held back by uneven writing. Its heart is in the right place, even when its storytelling lags behind.
Spoiler-Free Verdict
- Performances: 7.5/10
- Direction: 6.5/10
- Screenplay: 6/10
- Score: 7/10
- Cinematography: 7.5/10
- Entertainment Value: 6.5/10
- Overall: 6.5/10
Final Star Rating: ★★★☆☆ — 3/5
Verdict Badge: Stream It
One-line verdict: A warm, beautifully shot childhood fable with a delightful young star, undercut by writing that leans too heavily on cuteness.
Ideal gentle viewing for families and nostalgia lovers; those after a deeper study of a fraying marriage may find it too light.
Watch the Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer for Kaushal Oza’s Little Thomas, starring Gulshan Devaiah, Rasika Dugal and Hridansh Parekh.
What was the strangest explanation you were given as a child about where babies come from? Share it, and your spoiler-free thoughts on Little Thomas.