Resul Pookutty becomes Academy member

Oscar winning sound technician Resul Pookutty will join compatriot, music maestro A R Rahman, as a voting member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and hopes that the membership will help him attract good work in Hollywood.
Pookutty will be a part of the elite 6000 member organisation that chooses the winners of the most prestigious awards in the world of cinema, the Oscars.
“I received the invitation to become a member of the Academy while I was still in India. You need the sponsorship of two governors from the Board to become a member. Those formalities were completed during my recent trip to Los Angeles. I consider it a great honour and am thrilled,” Pookutty told PTI.
The sound artiste who was in the capital to attend an event organised by the DAV Institute of Management said that despite winning multiple awards, including an Oscar and a BAFTA for his work in the Mumbai based potboiler ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, he is still waiting for good work from Hollywood to come his way.
But the 38-year-old is hopeful that membership in the Academy will boost his profile in Hollywood.
“At this stage in my career, I will not do a B grade film, just because it is a Hollywood project. The best work is handled by the unions of technicians and it is difficult to break into the market if you are not a member. But I am hopeful that an Academy membership will help,” said Pookutty.

A.R. Rahman’s ‘Passage’ wins appreciations

After making it big with internationally acclaimed “Elizabeth: The Golden Age’, filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor and A.R. Rahman have come together for “Passage’. This, first ever short film directed by Shekhar Kapoor has Rahman delivering 4 musical tracks with a song crooned by Indian singer. The film is produced by Swarovski Entertainment and is shot entirely in Argentina.
“Passage’ is based on the lives of three women going through emotional turmoil after loss in their lives. The film features Julia Stiles, Lily Cole and Haley Bennett in lead roles while the musical score by Rahman has five tracks: Opening track, Tango (originally composed by Carla Pugliese), Atmosphere by Rahman, Aria by Kavita Baliga and Waltz, by Rahman again.
The film was recently screened and Benoit Debie and musical score of Madras Mozart spellbound those who viewed it with enchanting visuals.

Comparing me to Rahman not fair: Sohail Sen

After teaming up with music maestro A.R. Rahman in hits like “Lagaan” and “Jodhaa Akbar”, director Ashutosh Gowariker has roped in budding composer Sohail Sen for “What’s Your Raashee?” and the young musician says drawing comparisons between him and the Oscar-winning genius wouldn’t be fair.

“I never had in mind that I will be compared to Rahman. That shouldn’t happen at all. He has been in the industry for so long and I’m just a beginner; so any comparison with him would not be fair,” Sen, who has composed 13 tracks for “What’s Your Raashee?”, said.

“I’m a great fan of Rahman. I have been listening to his music over the years and he is just like an idol for me. He is an encyclopaedia of music,” Sen added.

The 25-year-old has got music in legacy from his father Sameer Sen, a well-known name in the field of music in Hindi films, but says creating songs for the Priyanka Chopra, Hurman Baweja-starrer was not a cakewalk.

“Creating 13 different songs, each for one particular zodiac sign, was a difficult task. We had to maintain distinctiveness. Initially I was nervous. But when Ashutosh-ji and Javed (Akhtar)-saab briefed me and we started working on them, it became better.

“But we did our homework too before starting on the work. We worked on the album for more than one and a half years,” said Sen, who had earlier composed music for the 2008 movie “Sirf”.

Asked which was the most difficult number to create, he said: “‘Chehra jo dekhe hain’ was the most difficult song. We had themes for every song, but in this song we had to collaborate and merge every theme… it was a big task, but we managed,” said Sen, who has also lent his voice to a few songs in the album.

“What’s Your Raashee?” is about a young man who is told to find his dreamgirl within 10 days to save his family from utter ruin. He meets two girls from each sun sign every day so that he will get 12 chances to fall in love, three days to make his final decision and tie the knot on the 10th day.

Priyanka plays 12 different characters, depicting the 12 zodiac signs in the movie set to release Sep 25.

Most films have four-five songs these days — won’t it be a minus point to have 13 songs in the film?

“I don’t think that having 13 songs in one album in a time like today will be a minus point because every song is essential for the film. The songs and the script go hand-in-hand.

“I don’t think the audience will have a problem. As far as I am concerned, it was a plus point for me since I got a chance to showcase my talent and create music in so many different genres in one album itself,” said Sen.

So do you consider this a landmark film for yourself?

“Absolutely. It was a dream to work with a filmmaker like Ashutosh Gowariker,” Sen said.