Image Courtesy – The Hindu
Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty has won the award for best sound for documentary “India’s Daughter” at the coveted Motion Picture Sound Editors’ 63rd annual Golden Reel Awards. The Oscar-winning sound engineer said he is the first Asian to win the coveted award at the 63rd Golden Reel Award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ (MPSE) of US for best sound. The government had banned the film from public screening/airing in the country.
Dedicating the award to the 23-year-old paramedic student who was brutally gangraped on December, 16 2012 following which she died, Pookutty said the film “India’s Daughter” is the true spirit of the youth of the nation. He said the film recognises the entire spirit of the youth who protested against the inhuman treatment being meted out to girls and women.
The competing films/ television documentaries in the list included “Beware Baltimore”, “Chef’s Table”, “Deadliest Catch”, and “The Undrafted” “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “The Martian”, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “The Revenant” among others.
The 44-year-old artist of “Slumdog Millionaire” fame has won nominations for his sound engineering work in “Unfreedom”, a US production, and “India’s Daughter”. He noted that all his international recognitions came for the work he has done in India, but expressed anguish over the ban imposed on both the films in the country.
“India’s Daughter” was directed, written and produced by British director Leslee Udwin. Though the documentary was banned in India, it was globally beamed on March 4 last year.
“Unfreedom”, which espouses homosexuality, is the debut film of Florida, US-based director Raj Amit Kumar. The film, starring Adil Hussain and Victor Banerjee, is also banned in the country by the Censor Board.
Pookutty is a film sound designer, sound editor and mixer, and lives in Mumbai with his family. He is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He, along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp, had won the Academy Awards for best sound mixing for the Britsh production “Slumdog Millionaire”.
