Excerpts:
"The
film was based on the book 'Govardhan's Travels' by well-known
Malayalam writer Anand. I planned to make the film in three languages
- Malayalam, Hindi and English - with Mammootty as one of the
main leads," he said.
Pokutty said he would like to team up with Bollywood
megastar Amitabh Bachchan for his directorial venture.
"I don't know yet, but I really want to
work with Amitabh Bachchan. What great gestures he has made towards
me. When the Oscar nominations came in, he called a press conference
in Jaipur and said 'I'm more happy about Resul's nomination'.
After I won the Oscar, he sent me a bouquet that wouldn't even
fit in my drawing room. He also sent me a card and last week he
honoured me in Mumbai," said the 38-year-old.
Asked if he had approached the megastar with
the intention, Pookutty promptly replied "not yet".
Though he is keen to wield the megaphone, Pookutty
says this is not the right time.
"I want to switch over, but I'll be a fool
to change my track now. It'll be a bad career decision to change
my profession at this stage and so I'm not going to do any such
thing now," he added.
Pookutty won the golden statuette along with
Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp for best sound mixing in Danny Boyle's
multiple award-winning underdog drama "Slumdog Millionaire"
at the 81st Annual Academy Awards in February.
"After 'Slumdog...', Indian entertainment
industry is being taken very seriously abroad. There is a lot
of interest in the West towards us. It has come straight out of
'Slumdog...' and we should thank them (the filmmakers),"
he said.
Pookutty started his career in 1995 with Rajat
Kapur's never-released film "Private Detective: Two Plus
Two Plus One" and went on to design sound for films like
"Black" (2005), "Traffic Signal" (2007), "Saawariya"
(2007) and "Ghajini" (2008).
Pookutty says Oscar brought a considerable change
in his life.
"For me, Oscar is a popular award and I
required a popular medium to be recognised. I really appreciate
and value it," he said.
"There are international projects that are
coming up. I'm reading three scripts a week. There is a lot of
interest in me from the rest of the world. A French director has
been desperately trying to get in touch with me for the last three
months. I even got a call from Croatia. It's great," he added.
Pookutty's forthcoming projects include "Blue",
"Prince", "Guzarish", "Rectangular Love
Story", "Pappu Can't Dance Saala", "Rangeen
In Love", "Mocktale", "Hawai Dada", "Pazhaasi
Raja", Walt Disney collaboration "The 19th Step"
and two other Hollywood projects.
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