Pookutty inspired by Adoor, Aravindan
Speaking at a Meet-the-Press programme organized by the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club, Oscar-nominated Keralite sound technician Resul Pookutty said he was inspired to pursue a career as a sound technician by watching films of Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Aravindan.
“If you ask�the best example of the use of sound technology in Indian cinema, I would say it is in Adoor's Elipathayam when actor Karamana Janardhanan Nair bites a stone while eating rice. Adoor Gopalakrishnan showcased the cultural context of an entire people through that scene," Pookutty said, adding that he also had a dream of making his own film some day.
He said that the Academy Award nomination for his work in Slumdog Millionaire is a reiteration of the fact that Indian film technicians are capable of producing international quality work. "Technicians have never been the face of cinema. I look at this nomination as an acknowledgement of not only my work, but of other people like sound technicians from Kerala, the late Devadas and Krishnan Unni. They have done immensely truthful work in their films and taught me the art of blending technology with aesthetics. My work is just an extension of their work," he said.
Talking about his experience in Slumdog Millionaire, Pookutty said that sound recording for the film was an immensely challenging and frustrating job. "It is extremely difficult to record live sound in a city like Mumbai. We had to use a novel method to capture the sounds of Mumbai using the available technology. We also had to invent new techniques on the location to�cancel the sound of the different cameras used for shooting." An alumnus of the Pune Film and Television Institute of India, Pookkutty commented that there was no need for any controversy over Slumdog Millionaire as it only narrates the story of a person who faces and overcomes challenges in his life.
