Now that Resul Pookutty’s name is on every one’s lips, after becoming the first Indian to receive an Oscar for sound mixing, his colleagues express their happiness for him and remember fondly their experiences with him.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali who collaborated with him in this movie, Black has good words for him.
Sanjay recalls his first association with Resul and says, “My assistant Vikram Motwane had suggested Resul’s name. For Devdas, Resul recorded the sounds of a hurling train for the climax, I hadn’t met Resul then. For Black, I worked with him for the first time on a complete film. I realized how meticulously he designed the sound and by sound, I also mean the way Resul uses silences on soundtrack.”

The filmmaker further says, “Though Black had its share of outdoors, most of the film was shot on the sets. In Saawariya, Resul’s challenge was also to create the outside world and relate it to timeless visuals all within the studio. It’s sad that his magical use of sound in Saawariya went unrecognized. The way he merged day into night through incidental voices and sounds or for that matter the way he recorded the sound of water lapping or an anklet falling into the water was wonderful. He’s a perfectionist to the point of being irritating at times. In my next film the challenge will be the opposite. To create a cinematic quality of sound on outdoor locations where there are a multitude of intrusive sounds.”

According to Sanjay, Resul is extremely demanding of his actors. “Our actors are not used to sync sound. Resul is very particular and doesn’t allow the actors a chance to lose focus for even a second. He’s very clear about how he wants the actors to speak.”

Sanjay feels Resul’s Oscar triumph would change the way Indian cinema looks at technicians. “He has brought glamour and excitement to the process of creating sound in our cinema. He’s a wonderful boy and has given such a wonderful thank you speech on receiving the Oscar.”

Resul Pookutty is now looking forward to put his audio wizardry in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next film featuring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, which is scheduled to start later this year.