Hindi film industry has to reinvent itself: Pookutty

Sharjah - Pookutty has had a remarkable journey from a small village in Kerala to accepting an Oscar award.

Hindi film industry in India needs to look beyond just 'running around trees' and reinvent itself, especially in terms of technology and literature used in cinema, said Academy Award winner Resul Pookutty.
The Indian sound designer, who shared an Oscar Award with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp for their work in the 2008 hit Slumdog Millionaire, said Hollywood makes millions in cash from releases in India, without a single "rupee worth of investment".
Speaking to Khaleej Times during the release of his book 'Sounding Off: The Memoirs of an Oscar-winning Sound Designer, on Friday at the 37th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), Pookutty revealed that the upcoming Tamil movie 2.0 is one of his most ambitious projects to date.
In a bid to reinvent cinema production, and provide moviegoers with a truly remarkable experience, Pookutty and a team of sound professionals have developed '4D (four-dimensional) sound' for 2.0.
He said: "In a regular movie theatre that applies the Dolby Atmos surround sound, there are 40-60 speakers. In a 4D SRL technology, there are 420 speakers in a theatre. In this case, the sound will come to the viewer. That's the enormity of the work we are doing. However, the script and the movie narrative demanded this kind of format to be developed."
'My book was spoken, not written'
Pookutty has had a remarkable journey from a small village in Kerala to accepting an Oscar award. Speaking about his book, Pookutty said the words of the book were narrated and not written.  The autobiography talks about the amazing odyssey of a village boy from Kerala whose resilience and conviction took him to the very cutting edge of cinematic sound technology - from struggling in the ruthless film world of Mumbai to winning international glory.
Pookutty also calls himself the most blessed sound technician in India. "A lot of my work is inspired from my childhood experiences," he said, citing that technicians have finally gone from being anonymous to becoming rock stars in the industry.
Speaking about his debut as an actor with Prasad Prabhakar's bilingual film The Sound Story, a story of a sound designer working hard to realise his dream of recording all sounds of the famed Thrissur Pooram, an annual temple festival in Kerala, Pookutty said: "It's not just the music, but the sound of the entire tradition, one that has been carried over for a thousand years. This, coupled with the energy of the people and the elephants, puts one in a state of trance."
The five-day festival involves the assembly of nearly 60 elephants and more than a million people across 70 acres of land.
Advising aspiring sound technicians in India, Pookutty said: "Nothing beats hard work. That and educating yourself with technical knowledge is the key to success. Young people who want a career in sound engineering must educate themselves." 
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com
 

• Sharjah