''Slum Bala'' ( kn, ಸ್ಲಂ ಬಾಲ) is a 2008 Indian

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

-language film directed by Sumana Kittur, starring

Duniya Vijay B R Vijay Kumar, who is professionally known as Duniya Vijay and Duniya Viji, is an Indian actor who appears in Kannada films. He began his career playing small roles until he got his big break in '' Duniya'' (2007). He is noted for his perform ...

Shubha Poonja Shubha Poonja is an Indian actress and former model. She has mostly appeared in Kannada films and Tamil. She is best known for her role in the movie Moggina Manasu for which she received Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Kannada. ...

and

Shashi Kumar Shashi Kumar (born 2 December 1965) is an actor and politician from Karnataka. He works predominantly in Kannada films. Acting career Shashi Kumar's first released film was ''Chiranjeevi Sudhakara'' starring Raghavendra Rajkumar. In 1989 h ...

in lead roles.

Cast

as Balakrishna alias Slum Bala *

as Mallige *

as Police Inspector Shantaram *

Umashree Umashree (born 10 May 1957) is an Indian actress and politician. She is known for her portrayal of film roles spoken in the Kannada language (over 400), particularly comic roles. She received National Film Award for Best Actress for her role a ...

Girija Lokesh Girija Lokesh is an Indian theatre and film actress and occasional film producer who works in Kannada cinema. She is wife of actor Lokesh, and is the mother of former actress Pooja Lokesh, and actor and television presenter Srujan Lokesh. In ...

B. Suresha B. Suresha is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works in Kannada-language films. He is known for directing the films ''Artha'' (2003) and ''Puttakkana Highway'' (2011). Career B. Suresha made his debut as a child ac ...

as Prasad Nayak *

Achyuth Kumar Achyuth Kumar is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. Born in the town of Belur, in the district of Hassan and brought up in Tiptur. He graduated in bachelor of commerce from the Kalpatharu First Grade College, which was t ...

* Dharma as Bhadravathi Manja * Sathya Prakash * Dr Banjagere Jayaprakash

Production

Sumana Kittur narrated the story of ''Slum Bala'' to Duniya Vijay, who agreed to star in the film only if Kittur directed it.

Music

Reception

Critical response

R G Vijayasarathy of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'' scored the film at 3 out of 5 stars and says "Music director Arjun has done remarkable job both as a composer and back ground scorer. Slum Bala is a must-see film for all those who love good and realistic cinema". Bangalore Mirror wrote "A disappointment for Vijay’s fans is the absence of daring stunts he is known for. The film is a den of thieves. Apart from the mother and the love interest of Bala (played by Shuba Poonja), every other character is either corrupt or has a negative shade. This could have helped if the film was a thriller. But it seems the director was more intent documenting the life of Slum Bala than provide a quicker narrative of a corrupt society".

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

wrote "Nayak's friend promises not only to cancel the police order against Bala but also to handover the cable business to the latter. Bala accomplishes the task but circumstances compel Shantaram to eliminate Bala. Slum Bala is a take on politics".

References

{{reflist 2000s Kannada-language films 2008 films Films directed by Sumana Kittur