After the success of Mirzapur The Movie, Rasika Dugal is turning the conversation to a part of the audience Hindi cinema often skips: children.
In Little Thomas, directed by Kaushal Oza, Dugal plays Jessie Miranda. The film follows Thomas, a curious boy whose questions about where babies come from, and his wish for a sibling, sit at the centre of the story. What could have been a comic aside becomes the engine of the film.
Why children’s cinema keeps sliding down the list
Industry conversations about representation and wider reach rarely treat children as a core theatrical audience. Dugal argues that is short-sighted, because the films we watch while growing up stay with us long after childhood. Many adult thoughts and ideas, she says, can be traced back to stories encountered young.
Her argument is practical as well as creative:
- Children need films they can relate to, not films that talk down to them.
- Good children’s cinema embraces curiosity rather than dismissing it.
- It can be light without being empty, and meaningful without being a lecture.
The line that holds the whole pitch
Dugal summarised the balance in one sentence:
“Children’s cinema can be entertaining without being frivolous and meaningful without becoming preachy.”
That is the gap many family films miss: they either flatten the story for children or attach a moral for the adults in the hall.
What Little Thomas does with the idea
Little Thomas uses a familiar family situation, a child insisting on answers, and gives it room to grow. Rather than treating Thomas’s questions as trivial, the film makes them central to its storytelling, opening a conversation about childhood, family and how adults communicate with children.
For parents, that points to a shared film rather than a lesson. For the industry, it is a reminder that a child’s point of view can carry a full Hindi feature, not just a song or a side plot.
The fan’s side of the argument
For Hindi cinema fans who grew up on children’s films, Dugal’s point lands personally. A film that respects a young character’s questions can become a rewatchable favourite, the kind of title parents later introduce to their own children. Such films may not dominate opening weekend, but they often cross generations.
That staying power is the real prize, and it is what makes children’s cinema a business conversation rather than a niche concern. A child who falls for a film today is tomorrow’s regular audience for Hindi cinema.
What to look for
When Little Thomas releases, the test will be whether the story holds both children and adults without losing its sense of wonder. If it works, it could make it easier for the next children’s film to find backing, screen space and an audience.
Source: Filmibeat