Oscar and BAFTA winner sound designer Resul Pookutty on Monday said that he nearly had a breakdown after nobody showed interest in working with him in the Hindi film industry post his win at the Academy Awards.
Pookutty took to Twitter in response to a statement by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur
“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….,” said the sound designer in his tweet.
All my post r not seen in my timeline, posting it here again so that it’s not wrongly interpreted.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 fr nt taking me in their films🙏 pic.twitter.com/ldpzSNUlsP
— resul pookutty (@resulp) July 27, 2020
The statement by the Oscar-winning sound designer came a day after Kapur on July 26 retweeted an excerpt from an interview of music maestro A R Rahman.
During the interview, Rahman was asked why he worked more frequently in Tamil cinema than in Hindi films. To which he replied, “ I don’t say no to good movies, but I think there is a gang, which due to misunderstandings, is spreading some false rumours.”
Kapur, in a tweet, said that Rahman often faced difficulties in the Hindi film industry after he won the Oscars. Kapur made the remark after Rahman said there was a gang working against him in Bollywood, resulting in him getting fewer movies.
“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…,” Kapur tweeted.
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 .. pic.twitter.com/V148vJccss
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) July 26, 2020
Lost Money comes back, fame comes back, but the wasted prime time of our lives will never come back. Peace! Lets move on. We have greater things to do😊 https://t.co/7oWnS4ATvB
— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) July 26, 2020
However, in a tweet directed to the filmmaker, Resul said that he didn’t want to blame for this predicament as he believed he was facing the infamous “Oscar curse”.
He tweeted, “@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!”
Pookutty however decided not to drag on the conversation and said, “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.”
Meanwhile several celebrities including singers Srinivas, Shweta Mohan, actors Malavika Mohanan, Meerra Chopra , expressed their support for A R Rahman and told him that he and his music will always be their favourite.
It appears that the nepotism debate and disclosing the long tradition of favoritism in Hindi film industry is getting bigger and bigger.
