MUMBAI: Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty says he had difficulty finding work in Bollywood after winning the Academy Award, but is glad that the Oscar curse is apparently over. Resul’s statement comes in the wake of Shekhar Kapur’s tweet to Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman, telling the musician that the Hindi film industry refused to give him work because he had won an Academy Award, which proved “you have more talent than Bollywood can handle”.
Kapur had tweeted to Rahman after the latter said there was a gang in Bollywood that refused to let him in by spreading rumours about him in the industry. Opening up about his struggles, Resul tweeted to look back at the time when he was nearing a “breakdown”.
“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,” he tweeted.
Resul’s post was a response to filmmaker Shekhar Kapur’s tweet reading: “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.” The sound engineer added that he could have moved to Hollywood, but he did not.
“My work in India won me the Oscar. I got nominated six times for MPSE and won too... There will always be people to run you down but I have far more faith in my people than anybody else,” he shared.
Resul Pookutty went on to describe his experience as a result of the ‘Oscar curse’. “And much later when I discussed this with my Academy members friends, they told me about Oscar curse. It’s faced by everybody.
I enjoyed going through that phase, when you are on top of the world and people reject you, it’s the biggest reality check,” he explained. He continued: “Oscar curse is over, We moved on. I’m also not liking the direction in which the whole nepotism discussion is going. So peace! I’m not blaming anybody for not taking me in their films.”