The Academy Award-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty has won the Maharashtra State Award for his work in the Marathi film, Kshitij: A Horizon. Pookutty announced the news on his Twitter handle yesterday.
He wrote: "Happy to inform you all that we have won the Maharashtra State Award for best Sound Design for the film Kshitij. After so many years living in Maharashtra I have been honoured with the Film fraternity here, I feel very humble about it and feel so happy!"
Directed by Manouj Kadaamh, the film has been doing the rounds in festival circuits lately, and was one among the nine Marathi films selected at the Indian Panorama Film Festival in 2017. In addition to that, it also won the UNESCO Gandhi Medal at IFFI 2017.
The film, which deals with the subject of farmer suicides, centres on a family of drought-hit cotton farmers who move to the city in the hope of making a better life for themselves. Caught in the midst of their struggles is a little girl striving to acquire an education.
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Given the fact that climate and water issues are a constant source of misery for farmers in Maharashtra, the film's subject matter is a topical one and has the potential to initiate a lively discussion.The main character is a debt-ridden cotton farmer who moves to Kohlapur to work as a sugarcane labourer hoping to pay back his debts. This puts a dent in his daughter's ambitions. But the girl resolves to continue her education through other means.
Upendra Limaye, an eminent actor from Marathi cinema, plays the father; and child artiste Vaishnavi Tangde plays the little girl. Though it addresses the plight of the farmers, it's the intense father-daughter relationship that the film mostly revolves around. Manoj Joshi and Vidyadhar Joshi appear in supporting roles.
What's unique about the film's sound design is that there is no music -- all the sound was recorded live on location; this is the first Marathi film to do so.
The film has been chosen by the Maharashtra government to represent Marathi cinema at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, which is scheduled to take place in May this year. The film will be screened in the Marché du Film section. The Maharashtra government has lent their immense support to the film in the form of state-funded marketing and screenings.