Resul Pookutty, an Indian sound designer-editor, who shot to
fame after winning an Oscar for ‘Best sound mixing’ for the 2008 film ‘Slumdog
Millionaire’, received his second National Film Awards during the 67th edition
of the event in the National Capital on Monday for Tamil film ‘Oththa Seruppu
Size-7’.

For him, it was a moment of pride to get acknowledgement in his own
country despite the fact that he has tasted success globally.

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“I feel delighted to be winning the National Award. Because
I have won an Oscar, that doesn’t diminish or rate the National Award any less
for me. It is of prime importance to me. When your craft is recognised and
acknowledged it’s always a beautiful feeling as it means not just a personal
milestone, but for your coworkers and the community, and the National Award is
the highest honour in this country” he told Opoyi.

Pokutty, who is also a BAFTA winner, further added that “wherever you have gone and whatever
you have done across the globe, if your country recognizes you with the highest
honour, you feel privileged and blessed to be in that position.”

Pookutty, who has worked in multiple film industries across
the country including Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam, Telugu, Marathi and Gujarati
languages in addition to British and American films, got his first National
Film Awards in 2009 for the Malayalam film ‘Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja’ and he
says that regional films are strong because it has equally strong
literature. 

“I got my first national award in 2009 and second one in
2019, both for my regional film work. The first one was for a Malayalam film
and the second is for a Tamil film. So I strongly believe that wherever the
language or literature is strong, stronger films can come from that region with
content that is intrinsic to its culture and can resonate globally,” he said.

However, for him, the scenario is different in Hindi films.

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 “Hindi films, unfortunately, over the last two
decades, are not coming out of Hindi literature or from the heartland of Hindi
where folklore or stories of people, of their land, are connected. Hindi cinema
is coming as the package to you so I feel the entire gamut of Hindi films
actually needs to relook at it and then pick up stories from there. This way,
Hindi cinema can redefine contemporary cinema. That is the only way content in
Hindi cinema can revitalize otherwise sporadic brilliance can come and go. I
don’t think serious work that connects people can come from there,” he added.

So is this the reason why he has distanced himself from
Hindi films? “No No, I have not distanced myself from Hindi cinema,” he
answered and added that he has done all kinds of cinema including Hindi,
Russian, Scandinavian, French British films, etc.

“I look at cinema and
the art of film making for what it is, language is just a medium to
communicate, stories can have universal chord, and today there is a wide space
to exploit that “. 

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“I do films in different languages. Regional cinema invites
me. Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu,  Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi, Assamese, all
these languages of cinema invite me and I want to work with everybody. I don’t
want to restrict myself to one sector but I am doing Hindi films as well and I
am looking forward to it,” he added.

The 49-year-old, however, says that he relates more to South
India because “I think there is a certain sense of openness in it” and he found
a similar connect with Neeraj Mishra’s movie ‘Samanantar’

“I came across a Hindi movie called ‘Samanantar’ which Neeraj
Mishra has directed and I looked at it and got immediately connected to it
because it has come from his native land and people in that milieu. I
immediately connected to the culture.  The same is with Malayalam, Tamil,
or Telugu films, I see certain cultures in it. 

“However, when I see Hindi films, I don’t see the connection
to the culture. I feel metropolitan things are happening and I can’t figure out
if I am in London or New York or Mumbai or Kolkata, it goes over the head. I am
not saying every Hindi film is like that but most of the mainstream films, and
commerce overrides content quite often,” he said.

He also says that during a pandemic when the world saw the
emergence of Over the Top (OTT) platforms, the one thing that came out as a
sure-shot winner was regional films.

“What happened during the pandemic, all of us across the
globe turned towards two sets of people who are the fabric of our society – one
was the farmer, the other was the artist community. They were there but we
never knew they were there and we never attached any importance or any value to
them.

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“So then because we sat at our home, we turned to our
storytellers. Then subconsciously what has happened is we started looking at
stories we can relate to and this is where the regional cinema has scored
because it has cultural meaning and relevance.

“I have a belief that when you
make a story that is nationalistic in nature, it works. The more nationalistic
you go, the more universal you become and that’s what
the revelation of OTT platform is because they don’t look at the
star, they look at content and they were in abundance,” he said.

And this is the reason why filmmakers have to make an
extra effort to attract an audience once the theatres open up.

“At the end of the day, after one viewing, two viewing, and
three viewings you want a story that connects to you, that is where people
relate to regional cinema, and that’s what we lack in Hindi. When Hindi cinema
will come back to theatres,  we need to think that we need to get people
back into the cinema, we need to give them something which they won’t get at
their homes.

“Stories that attach value to them, something that they can
take back and remember otherwise they will reject. I want to tell my friends
that don’t be in a fool’s paradise once the theatre opens up because business
won’t come back unless and until you give them better stuff. You give them
something that they can take back home. That’s why we need to turn back cameras
to the villages, to the stories, to the people with whom we can connect which
Hindi cinema is lacking at this moment,” he said.

On the work front, Resul is busy with many forthcoming
projects including ‘Radhe Shyam’, ‘Pushpa’, ‘Shabaash Mithu’, ‘Rat On A
Highway’, ‘Footprint On Water’ and his production ventures.

“At the moment I am very busy finishing ‘Pushpa’, which is an
Allu Arjun film and then ‘Radhe Shyam’ which is a Prabhas’ film along with
Taapsee Pannu’s ‘Shabhash Mithu’ and I have ‘Gandhi vs Godse’. These are main
films as sound work and at the moment I am of course working with Neeraj and
getting ‘Samanantar’ out. We have finished the post-production work as we speak
then I am starting with my production for a Malayalam film. Opportunity is
coming to me. I am setting up a film fund and I am going to create a more
original movie. I and Wizcraft are producing another Hindi movie.

Apart from that, a
British film has been offered to me, so that is also in the pipeline so my
hands are full and I am looking at a very beautiful, exciting and creative new
phase of my life,” he sums up