Resul Pookutty


Resul Pookutty is an Indian film sound designer, sound editor and audio mixer. He won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp, for Slumdog Millionaire. He has worked in Hollywood, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam films.

Early life

Born into a family in Vilakkupara, near Anchal about 40 km from Kollam, Kerala, India. He was the youngest of ten children. His father was a private bus ticket checker. Pookutty had to walk 6 km to the nearest school and study in the light of a kerosene lamp as his village had no electricity.
He did his bachelor's degree in physics from Milad-E-Sherief Memorial College, Kayamkulam during 1987–1990. He was admitted in Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram for studying Bachelor of Laws degree, however, he was unable to complete it. In 1995, he graduate from Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. In 2014, he wrote the remaining LLB exam papers. Resul said that it was his father's desire to make him an advocate.

Career

Pookutty moved to Mumbai after his graduation. He termed it as "a natural immigration as a graduate of the institute." He pointed out that "Ninety-five per cent of the technicians of the Mumbai film industry are alumni of FTII, Pune." Pookutty made his debut in sound design with the 1997 film Private Detective: Two Plus Two Plus One, directed by Rajat Kapoor. He got his big break with the critically acclaimed 2005 film Black, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He subsequently engineered sound for major productions like Musafir, Zinda, Traffic Signal, Gandhi, My Father, Saawariya, Dus Kahaniyaan, Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja and Enthiran.

Personal life

Pookutty is married to Shadia. They have a son Rayaan and a daughter, Salna.

Filmography

Awards