Notes Of A Soundman

When AR Rahman and myself won the Oscar for "Slumdog Millionaire" the press asked us, "What does it all mean to you both?" I remember Rahman replying, " The next 10 Years going to be Indian cinema's golden period." I can say it with conviction Rahman was so true when I see the efforts of people like of Abis Rizvi and Kamal Sadanah in creating a marvelous and edge of the seat thriller in the world’s largest mangrove with tigers whose roars we have only heard of.

"Roar" is a compelling story of how stupid human beings are as a species at the same time there is still hope left with us. When we appreciate a film like "Roar" we are also looking at every independent filmmakers dream and need to put them out there. Time has come to look at our audiences’ choices in the wake of every Hollywood studios opening their shops in India and having mainstream releases before their Hollywood releases. As creative Indian minds looking at a global audience we also have to redefine what we offer to our audiences. I want to look at the importance of "Roar" in this perspective.

Technically its one of the finest films to come from India. And it's an independent effort. With more than 800 VFX shots with real tigers in the Sunderbans, it wasn't an easy task to make this film. In any film what makes it larger than life is the sound. I wanted to be true to the spirit of Sunderbans first and then explore the possibility of Sound in the film. In that respect it is one of my best effort to make a film believable experience and the VFX guys made my life really difficult! It's very difficult to make an Indian film without songs. Kamal and Abis stood by our collective decision of not having anything that's not part of the story. In that respect this also become our best experiment in the commercial market. I'm hoping for the best.

Dr.Resul Pookutty, recipient of Academy Award Of Merit, BAFTA, and Cinema Audio Society Of America (CAS) for the film "Slumdog Millionaire" is the first Asian to win all these accolades. He is also recipient of numerous National and International awards for his work in various Indian and International movies.Govt.Of India has conferred him with "Padmashri"(The fourth highest civilian awards) in 2010 for his contribution to Indian Cinema. He is the Sound Designer for the film "Roar Tigers of Sunderbans".