‘Where do babies come from’…. many of us have lived with this innocent query of children. Only two-time National Award winning writer director Kaushal Oza decided to turn it into a film Little Thomas. If the genesis stemmed from a deep personal desire to have a little brother, the churning of the ideas came from a mature realisation that we never treat children as equals. Kaushal says, “We hand them a lot of dos and don’ts and do not answer their whys. The world around us is designed according to adults and not children.”Today, as the film is being compared to RK Narayan’s Malgudi Days and Ruskin Bond’s stories, Kaushal is mighty pleased. Rather he adds, “I even had creator of Aestrix René Goscinny’s Little Nicholas’ first person point of view of childhood in mind. I am glad what they achieved in literature, I was able to get the same tone in my film.” Interestingly, it was during his training at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune that Kaushal read all of Bond’s and Narayan’ s works. Having passed out from hallowed FTII, he can’t pinpoint any particular lesson that he may have learnt in his alma mater. The biggest strength of being the film school’s alumnus he asserts is, “The community of students who all understand the language and the rigour of cinema. We all stand by and make every resource available for each other.” He laughs and adds, “Why at one point, there were over 30 film school students on the sets.” Besides, the exposure to art-house cinema at FTII made him aware of immense possibilities in this realm.If you believe Hindi cinema does not take children’s films as seriously as they should, he reminds us of some sterling ones like Masoom, Taare Zameen Par, The Blue Umbrella and Makdee. Undisputedly, more films on children should be made and more importantly as is with these films and his too, children’s films need not be childish or simplistic and can certainly tackle mature themes.Working with child actors, he feels is neither easy nor challenging, requires a different skill set. He reveals, “My approach would change while directing Hridansh Parekh who plays Thomas and other child actors as compared to seasoned ones like Gulshan Devaiah and Rasika Dugal.” Indeed, both Gulshan and Rasika are brilliant actors and Kaushal shares, “Their onscreen dynamic is so good that it’s hard to believe they are not a real life couple.” Gulshan, he divulges is chilled out, Rasika is the serious one who wants more retakes. Interestingly, was he tempted to cast Anurag Kashyap who happens to be his producer and is lately being seen as an actor too? He winces, “On hindsight, yes.” Anurag’s directorial choices might be vastly different but Kaushal asserts, “He is not limited as person. Nor does he carry the weight of his persona, ‘I am a senior director’.” Instead of gyan, Anurag gave him full freedom to make the kind of film Kaushal wanted to.Setting Little Thomas in Goa of 1990s, Kaushal’s reasons for choosing the picturesque city, in particular Fontainhas, were vastly different from the regular touristy eye. “I was looking for a magical fairytale kind of place and Fontainhas, with its quaint lanes, coloured houses just fit the bill.” Placing his story in Goa with a culture dating back in time and some buildings like a seminary older than Taj Mahal was an added advantage. You bet, the film captures the nostalgia and many motifs of the period which have all but vanished. A gold spot bottle and references straight out of Mario Miranda’s sketches are some of the Easter Eggs viewers can find and relate to in the film.Above all, Little Thomas not only speaks to children but the child in us. In a week where YRF production Udta Teer hits the screens and a Manoj Bajpayee film releases on Netflix, why should people bother to watch this feel-good film? Kaushal’s quick repartee is, “For that priceless trip down the lanes of childhood.” At once a lament and an ode to lost innocence of childhood, Kaushal decided to make Little Thomas for he was missing lighthearted films with a comedic tenor. In case, you too are fed up of dark, brooding themes enter this ‘travel machine’ which will take you to the gateway of childhood and once again introduce you to its joys. Grab your tickets ahem slice of precious childhood.