Few films in the world undergo as much scrutiny as an Indian film, especially if it involves a superstar. No sooner was the teaser for Salman Khan's Tubelight out than it was being praised for having a mysterious plot. However, an hour or two later, it was being speculated that the film is a remake of the Hollywood film Little Boy (2015).
As it turns out, Tubelight is indeed inspired by Alejandro Monteverde’s 2015 World War II fantasy drama. This screenshot from the Tubelight credits clearly mentions ‘story based on the original film Little Boy’. End of debate.
Most Indian audiences may not be familiar with the Hollywood film. Set in World War II, Little Boy is the story of an eight-year-old, Pepper Flynt Busbee (Jakob Salvati), who shares a close relationship with his father. When America enters the war, Pepper's older brother is declared ineligible for military service because of flat feet and his father joins in his place. This leaves Pepper devastated.
Not long after his father leaves for the front, Pepper hears a verse from the Bible, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move". The boy becomes determined to get enough faith to bring his father home.
While Little Boy was set in World War II, Kabir Khan's Tubelight has the backdrop of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. While Little Boy had Pepper’s brother being rejected by the armed forces for being flat-footed, we wonder whether Salman Khan's character Laxman is the one to be rejected in Tubelight.
At 51, it is next to impossible for Salman Khan to play a Little Boy, so it is already being speculated that Khan may be looking for his brother, played by Sohail Khan and wants to bring him back with the power of faith.
What remains strikingly common in the two films is that both Laxman and Pepper are gifted with the power to move objects, even the earth, with their hands. Instead of the inspirational words from the Bible, we see Laxman mutter in the teaser, "Yakeen ek tubelight ki tarha hota hai, der se jalta hai, lekin jab jalta hai toh full light kar deta hai [Belief is like a tubelight; it takes time to come on, but when it does, it enlightens you]."
Watch the Tubelight teaser and Little Boy trailer below and have fun speculating on what other similarities and differences there might be.