Tikdam follows the story of a bunch of children who get together to prevent their father (and likely other members of their respective families) from moving out of their town for work. The story here is heartfelt and heartwarming while having a streak of innocence and simplicity to lace the narrative. The same is also reflected in the themes of the film, be it the simple nature of the protagonist or the simplistic method used by the children to write a letter to God to prevent their father from reallocating to the city. But more importantly, it is the screenplay standing at a shade under 2 hours that gently tugs the strings of the heart, while bringing about a range of emotions in a rather deft manner.

First thing that I liked about the writing here was the world building here that captured the leisurely paced life of a hilly small town really well. This was far from the hustle and bustle of a big city, something that you get only a glimpse of at a later point in the narrative. And this setup was also a reflection of the psyche of the protagonist, who had his heart in the smaller bylanes of his town while having to adapt to the fast moving pace of the city. Even from a characterization standpoint, Prakash is a simpleton, always content in life with what he has got in terms of his family and little income that he possesses. Yet, it is only when the income completely stops, that he is forced to reallocate. In contrast, the children, in particular Samay shares a slightly distant relationship with his father, a man of the family who has often been a silent warrior for the family oblivious to him. As a result, his bid to convince his father for a new pair of shoes often falls of deaf ears, even as Prakash has his own demons to deal with in terms of unemployment. As a result, when Prakash decides to reallocate to a new city, Samay isn’t entirely upset to begin with, in contrast to his sister Cheeni and his friend Bhanu, who are quite heartbroken. But with realisation set in, the children join forces to prevent the eventuality from taking place.

The proceedings are engaging and warm from the outlook while dealing with some rather important issues along the way. For instance, the stark contrast of a life in the small town versus that in the big city is subtly tapped into. Even the issues related to the environment are used as a catalyst in the story with the sole objective of the children being to stop theur father from leaving the town. And the manner in which the beats of the screenplay are connected to the issue of the environment is commendable, with the writers doing well to unfold the events from the gaze of the young children. As a result, the events are simplistic and quite palatable while also providing solutions that are simplistic as deemed fit through the lens of the kids.

One of the few issues that I had with the writing was an offshoot of the simplistic nature of the drama. At times, the writing was so simplistic that some of the pertinent issues of the environment were quickly touched upon before moving to the next one. The reality was that these issues could have further been probed into, particularly in its third act that felt like a mad rush of events as opposed to allowing a few quieter moments to dwell and introspect. This was also true for the final act of the film that could have been fleshed out a bit more. Probably, another layer of uncertainty was the need of the hour that would have further enhanced the drama. But having said that, the tonal consistency of lacing the narrative with warmth is pretty much evident, and also the driving force of the narrative that shines and hides a few of the flaws, thereby summing the screenplay that is very well written.