Resul Pookutty makes films worth listening

Mumbai: Do you know what is common between Mithya and Sawaariya? Or Mixed Doubles and Zinda? Well it is a man called Resul Pookutty

You may have seen his name on posters and credit rolls of films but are yet to figure what exactly he does in the world of moviemaking.

Thirty six-year-old Resul Pookutty is one of the best known sound designers in the industry and he is busy mixing the audio for Sawaariya's home video which will make sure that you experience the best sound on your home theatre.

A graduate of Pune's FTII, Resul has been in the industry for 12 years now with a filmography that has an interesting mix of biggies like Sawaariya, Dus Kahaniyaan, Black, Gandhi My Father, Zinda, Bluffmaster and small independent films like Amu, Raghu Romeo and Mixed Doubles.

While I cater to the mainstream cinema there is also another section of films, which I personally relate to. There are friends of mine; there are people who come up with brilliant ideas, who have no money to make. I also identify with them where I do far more creative work and with constraints," Resul says.

Starting his career with Rajat Kapoor's lesser known film Private Detective, Resul came into limelight with his work in Black.

It was a film without songs but the sound got everyone talking. But then there are films like Gandhi My Father where Resul's work went unnoticed.

"Gandhi My Father was one of my most emotional troubled film. I got emotional. I wept. I was emotionally troubled while mixing the film. There is lot of me in the film. I tried to get a particular texture, its kind of ageing in Gandhi's voice from his young to old days. We worked on that with actors, in the mixing stages, to get a particular texture which involved lot of multi-micro phoning and multi-track recording and effectively used that," he says.

The good work gave him an opportunity to work with one of his favourite directors, Danny Boyle. He is currently busy with Boyle's film Slumdog Millionaire and says its a completely new experience.

"The format was never a concern. Let it be film, let it be video, let it be still camera, the sequence has to be shot. The film was demanding a particular format and not the format was deciding the film. So we shot on many kinds of film cameras, more than fifty percent in digital camera," he says.

Though things have slowly changed in terms of recognition for technicians and appreciation for experimentation in the Indian film industry, Resul still feels that sound is gets step motherly treatment.

"Everything is technical excellence, it's all related to commercial success of the film. That is very, very sad. That only happens in Hindi cinema. Whereas abroad and in Europe, it's not that. If you have technically fine job, whether the film is a success or not, it is acknowledged by the community and the guild," he adds.

So the next time you catch a film, we hope you hear it as much as you see it.

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