Resul Pookkutty's friends in Kerala pray for Oscar win

By Rinku Gupta

Kayamkulam (Kerala), Feb 22 (IANS) Resul Pookkutty was an avid listener of All India Radio during his youth, and would always be critical of the sound quality of programmes on the state-run radio, recall his friends in this Kerala village who are hoping the ace sound designer wins an Oscar for "Slumdog Millionaire".

The small tea vending outlets of this town where the Oscar hopeful spent much time as a college student are alive with recollections about their famous inhabitant.

Pookkutty has been nominated for the 'sound mixing' Oscar for "Slumdog Millionaire".

"Resul was very shy and quiet. He was always critical of the sound quality of the AIR programmes. 'Bad sound mixing and worse ambience', he used to say repeatedly. Then we didn't have a clue as to what he was saying. Now we know he was not only sure, but has proved to the world he can do a better job," Ashraf Anjalan, one of his acquaintances, told IANS as he sipped sweet tea.

"Padaichoan (the creator or Allah in Malayalam) undoubtedly will reward our former neighbour who is named after the Merciful, for his perseverance," said Anjalan.

Chimed in Mohammed Kutty, another regular at the tea shop: "Malayalam films are any day better than most films in India, despite our being one of the poorest showbiz industries. And one from amongst us has outshone the rest and is knocking at the doors of world cinema."

"Resul was a year senior to me in college. Then he went away to Trivandrum and from there to Pune. Though he lives in Mumbai with his wife and two young children, he has not forgotten us. He speaks to friends on phone regularly," Kutty added.

There is an air of excitement in Pookkutty's home village of Vilakkupara nearby, and everyone is keeping their fingers crossed on Resul winning an Oscar.

"I had not interacted much with Resul as we grew up two streets away from each other due to the conservative Muslim society here. But I knew that he almost flunked the entrance test to the Film and Technical Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. But what an alumnus he has turned out to be from that institution! Today everyone is astounded at his success," said N. Sainabha.

Vilakkupara had very few facilities when Pookkutty grew up. Some of the streets did not even have lights.

Today, every home in the village, situated 80 km north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram, has a phone, cable television and many have computers.

Pookkutty, 36, did his schooling in Malayalam medium and graduated from Kayamkulam. Going against his father's wishes, he dropped out of the law college in Thiruvananthapuram, and went on to graduate from the FTII in 1995.

Though he lives in Mumbai with his wife and two young children, he is aware of the great interest in him and his success back home.

"The people in my village are going nuts," he was quoted as saying recently.