- Zee Studios makes Gujarati debut with a laughter-and-emotion entertainer releasing worldwide on August 28
- Siddharth Randeria, Dhanya Doshi and Anurag Prapanna promise a warm, relatable family ride
- Veteran meets youngster: Director Dharmesh Mehta reveals how the unusual pairing enriched the film
- Comedy with a heartbeat: Anurag Prapanna on sharing screen space with Siddharth and Dhanya
- A child’s world, a family’s emotions and a title that instantly hooks young audiences
GOWRI MANICKAVASAGAM
What happens when the wisdom of a Gujarati theatre and cinema veteran meets the uninhibited energy of a child—and comedy becomes the bridge between generations? Tom & Cherry hopes to answer that question with laughter, emotion and a generous helping of family warmth as Zee Studios steps into Gujarati cinema for the first time.
Set for a worldwide theatrical release on the auspicious day of Rakshabandhan -August 28, Tom & Cherry brings together veteran actor Siddharth Randeria, child artiste Dhanya Doshi and comedian Anurag Prapanna in a family entertainer directed by Dharmesh Mehta.
Far from treating family entertainment as merely a formula of jokes and sentiment, the film seeks to explore the chemistry between its characters—particularly the unusual but intriguing interplay between generations.
And behind that chemistry, Mehta says, was a fascinating creative experience.
When a veteran meets a child, the director gets a gift
Handling an accomplished veteran alongside a young performer could have been a delicate balancing act. For Mehta, however, the combination became one of the film’s biggest strengths.
Asked how difficult it was to direct a veteran senior theatre and cinema artiste alongside a child actor, Mehta said Siddharth Randeria was “every director’s best choice.”
“Siddharthji is every director’s best choice. He used to deliver better than our expectations and infuse life into the character,” Mehta said.
And then came Dhanya.
“Dhanya, the child artiste, is a keen observer with much grasping power. She is more mature than his age. And getting the best out of her was a child’s play,” the director said.
The pairing, he believes, is central to the film’s appeal.
Even the title was deliberately chosen to trigger curiosity, particularly among children.
“The title Tom & Cherry itself immediately creates curiosity. It is child-centric and familiar with the kids,” Mehta said.
That simplicity could prove to be one of the film’s cleverest marketing hooks: a title that immediately enters a child’s imagination while leaving adults wondering what—or who—Tom and Cherry are.
Comedy is easy to watch—but hard to deliver
For comedian Anurag Prapanna, the film became less about simply delivering punchlines and more about discovering the rhythm of an ensemble where humour and emotion have to coexist.
Working alongside Randeria and Dhanya, he says, was an experience he will carry with him.
“It was an unforgettable and learning experience to work with the veteran actor Siddharthji. Dhanya did a marvellous job as a teammate. All we did was follow the director’s instructions to bring alive his visualisation by giving our best,” Prapanna said.
His words also underline something crucial about family comedy: the laughter has to emerge from believable relationships rather than merely from jokes.
That is where the chemistry among the three performers becomes particularly important.
Dhanya: The young heart of a family story
For Dhanya Doshi, Tom & Cherry is an opportunity to inhabit a character whose emotional world has to feel authentic enough for children while remaining relatable to adults.
The young actor’s performance, according to Mehta, benefited from her ability to observe, absorb and respond naturally rather than being over-directed.
And that becomes particularly significant in a family entertainer, where children are not merely spectators but often the emotional centre of the story.
The film seeks to explore how relationships are understood through a child’s eyes—where affection can be spontaneous, disagreements can be innocent and emotional truths can sometimes emerge more honestly than they do through adults.
Siddharth: “A film that celebrates family entertainment”
For Randeria, the film’s greatest strength lies in its celebration of togetherness.
“Tom & Cherry is a film that celebrates family entertainment, laughter, love, relationships, and the joy of togetherness. The fantastic response the trailer received from audiences has doubled my excitement,” he said.
He sees the film as more than another Gujarati release.
“This regional story will provide a new and grand platform for Gujarati cinema on the big screen. I am confident that audiences will embrace this film with the same warmth and love with which we created it,” Randeria added.
That confidence comes at an interesting moment for Gujarati cinema, which has increasingly demonstrated that regional storytelling can travel well beyond its traditional geographical audience.
Zee Studios enters Gujarati cinema
The film marks the Gujarati debut of Zee Studios, giving Tom & Cherry an additional significance beyond its storyline and cast.
Produced by Dhea Patel, Ruchit Patel and Sanjay Desai under the banners of Dhea Filmworks and HG Pictures, with Haresh Patel as co-producer, the film is written by Vinod Sarvaiya and Humayun Makrani and presented by Zee Studios.
For Zee, the Gujarati entry is being positioned as the beginning of a larger regional-content strategy.
Sujal Parekh, Chief Business Officer, Zee Music Company, said:
“Gujarati cinema is an area with a strong audience base. The company plans to build a wider slate of Gujarati films and music. We want to take Gujarati-language work to audiences outside Gujarat as well.”
That ambition gives Tom & Cherry a significance beyond its opening weekend.
From Gujarat to the global screen
Gujarati cinema has traditionally drawn strength from its intimate understanding of family, relationships, humour and community life. But its audience today is no longer confined to Gujarat.
The Gujarati diaspora has created an international market for stories that carry a distinct cultural flavour while retaining universal emotional appeal.
Tom & Cherry appears designed precisely for that intersection.
It brings together family relationships, child-centric storytelling, comedy, veteran acting experience and contemporary presentation, while Zee Studios’ involvement provides the film with a larger distribution and visibility platform.
The film’s makers are clearly betting that audiences do not necessarily need elaborate spectacle to return to theatres.
Sometimes, all a family needs is a story in which it can recognise itself—and laugh together.
And as Tom & Cherry prepares to arrive worldwide on August 28, the bigger question is whether this meeting of generations on screen will create a similar meeting of generations in theatres.
