Pookutty's opinion...

India's first winner of the Golden Lady, Resul Pookutty, talks to Sneha May Francis about his journey since Slumdog Millionaire

...On what put India on the Oscar map

"For me, it's AR Rahman winning the Oscars. We all know that Rahman deserved an Oscar, but it was only a matter of time before he got it. People may say he's done far better work than Slumdog Millionaire, but that's not important.

For me, there's a body of work that Rahman has done, which deserves international recognition. People like Martin Scorsese, for example, won an Oscar for The Departed, even though he's done an entire body of work which didn't get any recognition.

Considering we are a country (India) that makes the most number of films in the world, this recognition came in a little late. It's because we've made terrible mistakes in sending the wrong films for the Oscar foreign film category.

So if we had the vision, we could've got it a long time ago. And if we still carry a certain vision forward, we can hope to win it again and again."

...On winning the Golden Lady

"It's one of the finest achievements on the technical front because in the 80 years of Oscar history no Indian technician has been nominated for an award. Personally it's very special. For the entire technical community, it's been a huge boost. Everyone, all of a sudden, feels they can make a difference. In that sense, I feel I'm blessed."

...On his famous Oscar speech

"Of course, it's a well thought out speech. I had run it in my mind a couple of times... too many times. But the way I reacted was completely natural because I never believed I would win the Oscar.

The competition was so sophisticated. I completely blanked out when my name was announced. And, for me, being a sound man who understood sound in its core form and being an Indian, who understood the soul of my country, I think it was important for me to tell the gathering where I came from."

...On working on Slumdog Millionaire

"It was an absolute nightmare. There were emotional breakdowns. But now when I look back, it's been a rollercoaster ride, no doubt, but full of happy memories. There was a point during the production when I had walked out of the film. Had that happened, I would've gone crazy today! But thankfully it didn't."

...On Hollywood

"For me, Hollywood has always been a place of work. Now I've got a lot of friends there and I've been accepted as a technician of a certain calibre."

...On Danny Boyle

"He's a great guy. More than anything, he's a great human being. Despite filming in some of the most extreme circumstances [in Mumbai], I've never seen him losing his cool.

Danny wanted things to happen in their own way. I think that requires a great understanding of a culture and a society. You don't go to a place and start changing it; you go there to become a part of it. On the other side, for me, he's a dream filmmaker. As a film student, I had watched his films.

I had a poster of Trainspotting in my hostel room. And 15 years later, I get a call from his office to work with him. I felt like jumping up and down, just like he did after receiving his Oscar!"

...On the Slumdog kids

"I'd like to talk specifically about Azhar [the young Salim]. He was a nightmare on location. I can't even count the number of times he went home with the microphone clipped onto him. He's a naughty guy and I had placed one assistant only to look after him! The children, all of them, are full of energy and bring life to the sets. But we had three to four people tracking them all the time."

...On Gandhi, My Father

"That was one of my most emotional films as it dealt with life of Mahatma Gandhi, who I idolise. When you are a technician and an artist, it's not about what you do with your art. It's about not doing something with your art so that certain feelings and principles are respected.

When I was doing Gandhi My Father, I wanted to be truthful and genuine to my own emotions. I had taken a conscious decision, not to manipulate emotions. I was truthful to Mahatma Gandhi, his principles. So in that sense, I think it was, artistically, a very restrained work."

...On sound engineering

"After I won the Oscar everyone suddenly wants their kids to become a 'Resul Pookutty'! It's a good thing, but they should understand that it's a very different frame of work. Sound engineering is not regular engineering.

It's studying cinema as a medium of art, learning sound as a craft, and working towards achieving a technical feat in a product with an aesthetic involvement. It involves a lot of study of art, cinema and other allied mediums.

So, it's not an engineering course. It's engineering in the wider sense of the word. It's a lot of hard work, a lot of starving, getting frustrated, and emotionally torn apart. So if fresh air can fill your stomach for a while then it's a good job!"

...On the future

"I'll continue working on more films, but please don't expect Sachin Tendulkar to hit centuries in every match! We try to be genuine to our work. Some work, some don't. So do bear with me."