Stumble - a debut film of Prakash Belawadi

Stumble - a brilliant 'made in Bangalore' English film for Bangaloreans, by Bangaloreans and of Bangaloreans. It is not just the story of a fateful family but ours', yours' and everyone's in general dealing with new economy, ups and downs of IT, stock market scam, voluntary retirement and mutual funds… Prakash Belawadi who is making debut into film world as a writer and director, has taken immense care in every frame of the film based on the boom and bust of today's dollar dreams of younger generation, get rich quickly policies of fallacious financial institutes and political scams.

Stumble revolves around a middle class family of Anand Rao (Ananth Nag) - a former bank official who takes voluntary retirement from his bank and invests that money in a mutual fund company which will yield a maximum return on investment among the rest. But this company goes kaput making him self-pity and depressed for his wrong decision. His wife Nandini (Suhasini) who tries to give moral support to the family members, including her software engineer daughter Madhu (M.D. Pallavi). To add to their misery, shock comes in Madhu's way in the form of pink slip as she is one of the victims of her company's layoff. Rao who thinks his daughter is inefficient, hopes that his son working in the US will bail them out from the situation. Fateful son Uday (Ajith Hande) comes back after loosing his job.

Mukhyamantri Chandru and Clay Kelton in Stumble

Mukhyamantri Chandru and Clay Kelton in Stumble

On the other hand Madhu's boss Kosla (Ashok Mandanna) enters into joint ventures with foreign investors to make quick bucks in short time in the form of call center and continues to layoff talented employees. But he and his 'mother of the year' wife Indu (Priya Ganapathi) realises their mistake when its beyond their control.

All characters of scrupulously handled film Stumble of Belawadi are very close to real life. Be it the mentality of middle class families or the entrepreneurs, corrupt politicians or the venture capitalists. Every sequences of the film are blended so very well with current scenario, you just don't find it different from the happenings in our neighbourhood, but on the celluloid. Ananth Nag and Suhasini are as usual at their best. Pallavi as Madhu, Balaji Manohar as Aditya and Mohammed Amanulla as Vasu steal the show among the youngsters. It does not mean that every frame of the film is at its best. Mukyamanthri Chandru as politician Divakar is not a right fit who was over acting in many instances. Ashok Mandanna and Priya Ganapathy justify their roles. Music by Praveen D. Rao is real good. Catchy dialogs of Prakash are very effective. Fellow software engineer says "layoff is the most stressful thing in their life after death and divorce" Another sample of Kosla's mother (Poornima Vyasalu) "People need underwear more than software"… And throughout the film you feel as if you are part of those characters not just a viewer. Kannada dialogs peeping in-between bring the local touch. At the end when Anath Nag says "you know why I lost everything? Because I invested in things which I did not understand"…what a message to public, that touches the heart. Stumble is a must see film if you are a 'Ctrl+Alt+Del' guy. Well done Prakash. Lets hope to see many such films in the near future.

Story and Direction: : Prakash Belawadi
Producers:S.N. Krishna Chidambara, Nagaraja Rao and Krishna Kumar
Music: Praveen D. Rao
Cinematography: Clay Kelton
Cast: Anant Nag, Suhasini, Ashok Mandanna, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Sihi Kahi Chandru, Priya Ganapathy, Pallavi M.D, Clay Kelton, Russel Byrne, Ajit Bhide, Veena Appiah, Ajit Hande, Aporup Acharya, Anil Abraham, Balaji Manohar, Mohammed Amanulla, Bhargavi Narayan, M.P. Venkata Rao, Poornima Vyasulu, K.S.L. Swami, S. Dattakumar, Goa Dattu and Allen Mendonca etc

This news in Kannada