Sound Sense

Despite the three impending red carpet appearances this month—on February 8 (BAFTA),14 (CAS) and 22 (Oscar)—Pookutty seems unfazed,even though a tuxedo is not exactly his favourite piece of clothing. “Formal dressing is not my cup of tea,” he says before letting it out that he has asked a friend to design his suits. Still high on this triple-nomination,winning trophies has not started bothering him yet. “I’m not hoping to win any award. All my contenders are very accomplished. The recognition which the nominations brought mattered,” reveals Pookutty,sipping a glass of ice-tea,as if drawing his coolness from there,on a breezy Sunday at a café in Fun Republic,Andheri.

The making and the stupendous success of Slumdog Millionaire had been a roller-coaster ride. “Technologically,it has been my most challenging film so far. Danny Boyle (director) is very demanding and kept pushing us to the brink,” says Pookutty,clad in a very casual check shirt and cotton pants. The film also tested his ingenuity when Boyle shot with multiple cameras,unlike one-camera practice in Bollywood.

“The crowded CST sequence was shot without disrupting regular human and rail traffic. For this sequence,I had positioned some 20 assistants with microphones to capture the required sound. The film was emotionally and physically very taxing,” says Pookutty,polishing off his drink. We try to grab a bite,but restaurants there ,showing all the signs of the lazy Sunday,weren’t ready to serve us. So we drive to Pookutty’s cozy studio in the neighhood,which also flaunts of the YRF studio.

As the conversation progresses,it’s

revealed Pookutty is not a stranger to challenges. He grew up in a remote village in south Kerala,where reaching the nearest school meant a 6 km-trek and which didn’t have any electricity till he cleared Class 12. Though the FTII,Pune,exposed the physics graduate to the world of cinema,Mumbai ensured that he went through the (almost mandatory) struggling phase before finding his foothold in the industry. That did not change his decision to work with “the sync sound”. During this period,Pookutty also realised his plan of compiling codified Indian sound by bringing out a three-CD collection of Essential Indian Sound Effects.

Pookutty made his film debut in 1997 with Rajat Kapoor’s Private Detective,and had been a fixture in all of the latter’s directorial ventures. It’s Sanjay Leela Bansali’s Black that brought him in focus,setting a benchmark. “But Gandhi My Father is the film in which I scaled a new height technologically,” he says.

Now,success seems to have come to Pookutty in two generous doses. The credit for the sound of Ghajini—billed as the biggest money-grosser—goes to him. In fact,the mixing of sound for Ghajini’s DVD is keeping him busy till the whirlwind tour of award ceremonies commences on February 6. Slumdog Millionaire and

Ghajini also gave him a chance to work with A R Rahman,who has bagged three Oscar nominations. However,Pookutty,feels he has got his Oscar with Amitabh Bachchan’s congratulatory call.

“Strangely enough not any Bollywood or Hollywood director has approached me for new projects after the awards were announced,” the sound master says jokingly. But that’s hardly a matter of worry for someone who has always put interesting work before money. Once the award fever settles down,Rectangular Love Story,Pappu Can’t Dance Saala and Rangeen Love—all low-budget films—will be demanding his attention. “Multi-crore projects limit us as huge amounts of money are at stake. But small-scale ventures with their primary concern of making good films propels to experiment,” he says,explaining why his filmograph is a good mix of big and small budget films.