Published 15:47 IST, July 27th 2020
Kangana Ranaut backs Resul Pookutty, reveals details of an hour-long conversation
"Post his Oscar, Kangana has always known the seriousness of Bullying in Bully-wood but no action was taken back then," wrote Team Kangana Ranaut. Read —
Sound designer Resul Pookutty on Monday said he stopped getting work in the Hindi film industry after he won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, with some production houses telling him upfront that they didn't "need" him at all. Pookutty said he has gone through something similar in the industry and it was the regional cinema that understood his value.
Pookutty's reaction comes after Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman recently spoke about a "gang" that was preventing him from getting work in Bollywood, amidst a raging 'insider versus outsider' debate, that has following Sushant Singh Rajput's death last month. Backing Pookutty, Team Kangana Ranaut (an unverified Twitter handle) wrote that the sound designer indeed called Kangana during Manikarnika release to discuss the same.
"During the release week of Manikarnika when whole industry ganged up on Kangana,@resulp called her in a long conversation for about more than an hour, not only he appreciated the film but spoke about the major emotional & professional crisis he is facing because of Bullying," Team Kangana Ranaut wrote.
...post his Oscar, Kangana has always known the seriousness of Bullying in Bully-wood but no action was taken back then and now that we have lost a life still we are going in circles, is there any hope for us @PMOIndia ?
— Team Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) July 27, 2020
Pookutty: "Nepotism is the cheapest corruption"
In a series of tweets, Pookutty said there were a "handful of people" who believed in him and continue to do so. The sound designer said he could have "easily shifted to Hollywood" post his Oscar win but he didn't.
"My work in India won me the Oscar, I got nominated six times for MPSE (Motion Picture Sound Editors) and won too,again all that for the work I have done here... There will always (be) people to run you down but I have far more faith in my people than anybody else!"
Talking about the "curse of Oscar", the 49-year-old said he realised much later that every winner faces it. "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 and when you know people reject you, it's the biggest reality check."
"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." He later added, "Nepotism is the cheapest and most unimaginative corruption!"
(With PTI inputs)
Updated 15:47 IST, July 27th 2020