The bespectacled, bearded and ever-smiling Kunal Rajan, who was in charge of sound for Enthiran, Ghajini and Race to Witch Mountain, and producer of Under the Silver Lake and Wild Nights with Emily is in the mood to tick off the boxes on his bucket list. Working with superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his production house Red Chillies Entertainment this year. Check. Chasing the 150 movie milestone. Check. Getting global recognition with Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Experience.
Also Check.
The 37-year-old Pudu- cherry-born technician is the only Indian sound designer who works both in Hollywood and Indian cinema while living in Los Angeles. As he relishes the success of his latest Tamil movie Mahaan that released in February, with Karthik Subbaraj, Rajan looks back at his ‘sound CV’ with pride. Armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sound from Puducherry University, Kunal started by recording ‘location sound’ for student films. He moved to the US 15 years ago and has worked on over 150 films, including 50 horror productions since.
The first time he made news as an Asian technician was when he mixed a film in ‘Auro 3D’––an immersive 3D sound format. This technique creates a spatial sound field by adding a height layer around the audience on top of the traditional 2D surround sound system. Creating the buzz now is Dost, Rajan’s project with SRK in the lead and directed by Atlee to be released in 2023.
Kunal’s discography is impressive enough to fetch him such big-ticket projects. With a team of 10 sound editors and mixers from Hollywood, he is one of the most in-demand sound engineers in India and Hollywood. On his resume is the Tamil musical drama Uttama Villain where he collaborated with Oscar-winning sound mixer Craig Mann. Kunal has also worked with legends like AR Rahman, Resul Pookutty, Karthik Subbaraj, and Vijay Sethupati.
Does he find a different sound aesthetic in Indian and Hollywood movies? “Sound in Western cinema is subtle, while it is over- the-top in Indian films. All movies record live sync sound in the West, but in India, it is dubbed. Not even the best dubbing artist or studio can replicate sync sound,” says Kunal. Dialogues in Indian films are generally mixed louder than those in western films. “It has to do with the fact that Indians tend to speak a little louder than people from the West. This translates into our style of sound mixing in movies as well. There is no right or wrong in sound mixing. It’s just what you as the sound designer feel is best for the movie,” he explains.
Does he agree that background music or songs are more about using technology than amplifying human voice and emotion?
“It depends on the director’s vision. There are movies I have worked on where the music has been used to maximise their potential to underline an emotion in the story. For example, director Karthik Subbaraj, composer Santosh Narayanan and I spent a lot of time working on the score and sound for the 2018 Tamil film Mercury. We had to make sure that each music cue starts and ends at the right moment to emphasise the relevant emotions. But there are some movies where music can be used as a gimmick as well. A lot of it depends on the kind of film and how the directors want to present a scene to the audience,” concludes Kunal. A sound argument indeed.
noted movies
✥ Race to the Witch Mountain
✥ The Last Hour
✥ Fantastic Four
✥ Ghajini
✥ Jem and the Holograms
✥ Step Up 3D and Step Up 2: The Streets.