''Stumble'' is 2003 Indian English-language film written and directed by

Prakash Belawadi Prakash Belawadi is an Indian theatre artist, film director, television and media personality, who's also a teacher, activist and a journalist. He hails from Bangalore. He has participated in many seminars, conferences and festivals in India an ...

in his debut. It stars

Anant Nag Dr Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and Eng ...

and

Suhasini Maniratnam Suhasini Maniratnam (born 15 August 1961) known mononymously as Suhasini, is an Indian actress, director, producer and writer in the Tamil film industry. She has worked as an actress in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her ...

in the lead roles.

Mukhyamantri Chandru Honnasandra Narasimhaiah Chandrashekar (born 28 August 1953), known popularly as Mukhyamantri Chandru, is an Indian actor and politician. As an actor, he is known for his work in Kannada theatre and cinema. The sobriquet ''Mukhyamantri'' (Chief ...

, Ashok Mandanna and Priya Ganapathy feature in supporting roles. Set in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, the film explores the impact of corruption in the

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

world, the stock market and mutual funds scams and

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...

on ordinary people. Praveen D. Rao scored music for the film while Clay Kelton served as the cinematographer. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics upon theatrical release. At the

50th National Film Awards The 50th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 2002. Awards were announced by ...

, the film was awarded the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English is one of the National Film Awards of India presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is one of seve ...

Cast

Reception

Critics mostly gave mixed reviews to the film. Pradeep Sebastian of ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printe ...

'' opined that despite the film playing "like a cross between a television serial drama and a somber Kannada art film, it isn't pointlessly wacky or irritatingly smart-alecky like most Indian English films". However, he complained that the film picks up pace only towards the end and that "for most of its running time it lacks drama, it lacks tension. It fails to grip." He concluded praising the film for its "evocative cinematography, deft characterization and convincing ensemble acting." The reviewer for ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'', Manjulaa S. Negi opined that the film was a "forthright tale about naive individuals who still believe. They are the idealists whose dreams are shattered rather rudely and there is no recourse really, but to try and get back to their earlier lives with a bit more understanding and a lot more wiseness." She felt that despite the subject's shortcomings, "it holds", while adding that the direction and sound departments needed improvement. She concluded writing that the film's content was "powerful enough" for one-time watch at least. Deepa Gumaste 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 ...

'' commended the film for its "realistic depiction of educated urban youth and their aspirations" and the performances of the leading actors including

, M. D. Pallavi and Balaji Manohar. However, she blamed the director for being "over simplistic and loses his way with some characters". She added that the storytelling required to be more "restrained". The reviewer for ''Viggy.com'' called it "a brilliant 'made in Bangalore' English film for Bangaloreans, by Bangaloreans and of Bangaloreans." They echoed Gumaste's view on the performances of the leading characters. The reviewer added, "Music by Praveen D. Rao is real good. Catchy dialogs of Prakash are very effective."

Screening

* It was screened at

Mumbai International Film Festival The Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) is a festival organized in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. It ...

Prakash Belawadi’s dream materialises
'
Screen
India, 4 April 2003.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2003 films English-language Indian films Best English Feature Film National Film Award winners 2000s English-language films