Both AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty won their respective Oscars in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire. (Photo: Resul Pookutty/Facebook)
Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty has shared how he was on the verge of a breakdown after not getting work in the Hindi film industry. Replying to filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, Pookutty wrote a series of tweets, calling the lack of opportunities in Bollywood as the “Oscar curse”. Pookutty’s revelation comes days after music maestro AR Rahman’s remark that a gang was working against him in Bollywood.
Shekhar Kapur had on Sunday tweeted that Rahman faced difficulties in the Hindi film industry because of his Oscar wins. He wrote in a tweet, “You know what your problem is @arrahman? You went and got #Oscars. An Oscar is the kiss of death in Bollywood. It proves you have more talent than Bollywood can handle…”
Replying to this, Resul Pookutty tweeted on Monday, “Dear @shekharkapur ask me about it, I had gone through near breakdown as nobody was giving me work in Hindi films and regional cinema held me tight after I won the Oscar… There were production houses told me at my face ”we don’t need you” but still I love my industry,for it….”
Dear @shekharkapur ask me about it, I had gone through near breakdown as nobody was giving me work in Hindi films and regional cinema held me tight after I won the Oscar… There were production houses told me at my face ”we don’t need you” but still I love my industry,for it…. https://t.co/j5CMNWDqqr
— resul pookutty (@resulp) July 26, 2020
@shekharkapur taught me how to dream…. there were a handful of people who trusted me and believed in me, they still do! I could have easily shifted to Hollywood but I didn’t and will not… my work in India won me the Oscar,I got nominated six times for #MPSE and won too…
— resul pookutty (@resulp) July 26, 2020
@shekharkapur … again all that for the work I have done here… There will always people to run you down but I have far more faith in my people than anybodyelse!
— resul pookutty (@resulp) July 26, 2020
@shekharkapur …and much later when I discussed this with my @TheAcademy members friends they told me about #OscarCurse! It’s faced by everybody! I enjoyed going through that phase, when you are on top of the world &when you know people reject you,it’s the biggest reality check!
— resul pookutty (@resulp) July 26, 2020
In subsequent tweets, Pookutty added, “@shekharkapur taught me how to dream…. there were a handful of people who trusted me and believed in me, they still do! I could have easily shifted to Hollywood but I didn’t and will not… my work in India won me the Oscar,I got nominated six times for #MPSE and won too… again all that for the work I have done here… There will always people to run you down but I have far more faith in my people than anybodyelse! and much later when I discussed this with my @TheAcademy members friends they told me about #OscarCurse! It’s faced by everybody! I enjoyed going through that phase, when you are on top of the world &when you know people reject you,it’s the biggest reality check!”
AR Rahman, in a recent interview, said that there was a gang working against him in Bollywood, resulting in him getting fewer movies. “I don’t say no to good movies, but I think there is a gang, which, due to misunderstandings, is spreading some false rumours. When Mukesh Chhabra came to me (for Dil Bechara), I gave him four songs in two days. He told me, ‘Sir, how many people said don’t go, don’t go to him (AR Rahman) and they told me stories after stories.’ I heard that, and I realised, yeah okay, now I understand why I am doing less (work in Hindi films) and why the good movies are not coming to me. I am doing dark movies, because there is a whole gang working against me, without them knowing that they are doing harm,” Rahman told Radio Mirchi.
Both AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty won their respective Oscars in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire.