In Bollywood, 2026 is shaping up as a year ruled by patriotic and devotional stories. After the box-office success of ‘Dhurandhar’ and ‘Hanuman Ansh’, studios have rushed to announce more films in these genres. Anurag Kashyap argues that the two now hold a stranglehold over the industry, making it hard for any other kind of cinema to get noticed. The filmmaker has now explained why backing diverse films has become such a struggle.
Anurag Kashyap backs ‘Little Thomas ’ as an “enabler”
Anurag is lending his support to ‘Little Thomas’, an independently made children’s film directed by Kaushal Oza and starring Gulshan Devaiah and Rasika Dugal. Speaking to Hindustan Times about his role as executive producer, he said, “I see myself more as an enabler. It is just about faith and upping somebody’s morale. I see myself as someone who keeps morale high and helps them complete and release a film. I don’t think anybody knows what to make today. Film banana hi difficult hai (It is difficult to make films). Whether it’s a children’s film or an adult film, making your own film is difficult today.”The filmmaker feels the flood of patriotic and devotional film announcements shows Hindi cinema is chasing a trend. He recalled a recent conversation with a producer, saying, “I was talking to a producer the other day, and they said, ‘We don’t know what to do’. You can make either a patriotic or a devotional film. Otherwise, nothing else is getting greenlit. That is a fact and a tragedy.”
Anurag Kashyap sees room for slice-of-life films
Of the year’s four biggest Bollywood hits, three belong to this category: ‘Dhurandhar 2’, ‘Hanuman Ansh’ and ‘Border 2’. Many more such titles have been announced since. Anurag, however, believes this very climate leaves room for slice-of-life films like Little Thomas. “Hopefully, this film will sneak in, because this is not like any other film out there,” he says.He also argues that a film isn’t automatically a children’s film just because it features kids in the lead. “For instance, what will you call this recent Telugu film called Don’t Trouble The Trouble, which stars Fahadh Faasil and is backed by SS Rajamouli. It has Fahadh, so would you call it a children’s film?” he argues. He then points to the opposite case. “When we go to festivals, we see so many coming-of-age films. The biggest, most talked-about series in the last two years was Adolescence. But they are for adults,” says Anurag.
Anurag Kashyap produces ‘Little Thomas’, releasing October 23
‘Little Thomas’ is written and directed by Kaushal Oza. The ensemble cast is headed by Gulshan Devaiah and Rasika Dugal, with child actor Hridansh Parekh playing the title role. Anurag Kashyap produces the film along with Anushka Shah, Charu Oza, Rajnikant Oza, Akshay Thakker, Kabir Ahuja and Ranjan Singh. It is set to hit theatres on October 23.