Resul Pookutty becomes Academy member

New Delhi: Oscar winning sound techician Resul Pookutty will join compatriot, music maestro AR Rahman, as a voting member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and hopes that the membership will help him attract good work in Hollywood. Pookutty will be a part of the elite 6000 member organisation that chooses the winners of the most prestigious awards in the world of cinema, the Oscars.

"I received the invitation to become a member of the Academy while I was still in India. You need the sponsorship of two governors from the Board to become a member. Those formalities were completed during my recent trip to Los Angeles. I consider it a great honour and am thrilled," Pookutty told reporters. The sound artiste who was in the capital to attend an event organised by the DAV Institute of Management said that despite winning multiple awards, including an Oscar and a BAFTA for his work in the Mumbai based potboiler `Slumdog Millionaire`, he is still waiting for good work from Hollywood to come his way. But the 38-year-old is hopeful that membership in the Academy will boost his profile in Hollywood. "At this stage in my career, I will not do a B grade film, just because it is a Hollywood project. The best work is handled by the unions of technicians and it is difficult to break into the market if you are not a member. But I am hopeful that an Academy membership will help," said Pookutty. Pookutty is one of the 134 artistes to have received an invitation to join the Oscar roster of voting and will be in the company of A-listers like Will Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Jack Nicholson and Indian born director Mira Nair in the Academy. From making his debut in a small budget film `Private Detective` in 1997, Pookutty has come a long way. From `Pazzhasiraja`, a star studded Malayalam production to `Blue` which is being touted as the most expensive film ever made in Bollywood, Pookutty has his plate full. "Before the Oscars, people did not know that there was someone called a sound engineer who worked on a film. But now there are films that are being marketed with my name. It is a amazing feeling and I am thankful for all the love that has come my way," said Pookutty. The artiste who was born in a small village in Kottayam district, Kerala, is excited about the soon to be released film `Blue` as it marks his reunion with Rehman after their victory at Oscars. But Pookutty is nervous about the public`s reaction. "With such immense honour also comes pressure. It was great collaborating with Rehman again and the film was a new challenge for me because it was an underwater thriller. I am therefore a bit nervous, this being my first project after the Oscars," said Pookutty. Bureau Report