After Rahman, Resul Pookutty says Bollywood ignored him as well
Oscar award-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty has opened up about how Bollywood sidelined him after he won the coveted accolade. He said his career back home took a hit after he was awarded the 2009 Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing for Slumdog Millionaire. His comments came shortly after music maestro AR Rahman claimed a "gang" in Bollywood has been depriving him of work.
In a recent interaction with Radio Mirchi, Rahman was asked why he has lately been doing lesser work in Hindi movies as compared to the Southern film industry. In response, the revered composer said that while he does not say no to good movies, there is a certain "gang" in Bollywood that has been spreading rumors about him, thus depriving him of enough work.
Needless to say, such scathing remarks from one of the world's most-respected musicians sparked reactions from all corners. Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who had his own stints at the Oscars with his films Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, remarked that Rahman lost work because of his immense talent and the famous Oscar win. Rahman has won two Academy Awards for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire.
Quoting Rahman's interview, Kapur tweeted, "You know what your problem is AR Rahman? You went and got Oscars. An Oscar is the kiss of death in Bollywood. It proves you have more talent than Bollywood can handle (sic)."
In a series of tweets posted in response to Kapur's remark, Pookutty revealed that he was on the verge of a breakdown as nobody showed interest in working with him after his Oscar win. "There were production houses (that) told me at my face 'we don't need you' but I still love my industry for it," the sound designer added.
"There will always (be) people to run you down," Pookutty penned in another tweet. Referring to the infamous "Oscar curse" where award winners often face difficulties in their careers at regional level, Pookutty added, "It's faced by everybody! I enjoyed going through that phase, when you are on top of the world and when you know people reject you, it's the biggest reality check."
All my post r not seen in my timeline, posting it here again so that it’s not wrongly interpreted.Oscar curse is over, We moved on.I’m also not liking the direction in which the whole nepotism discussion is going. So peace! I’m not blaming anybody fr nt taking me in their films🙏 pic.twitter.com/ldpzSNUlsP
— resul pookutty (@resulp) July 27, 2020
Meanwhile, Rahman's own response to Kapur's comment was, as usual, suave and straightforward. The 53-year-old composer/singer tweeted, "Lost Money comes back, fame comes back, but the wasted prime time of our lives will never come back. Peace! Let us move on. We have greater things to do." Not long ago, musicians like Sonu Nigam, Adnan Sami, and Salim Merchant criticized the Indian music industry.
