March 16, 2010 (Sampurn Wire):Resul expresses a sense of disappointment about the experience of attending the Oscars for the second time. “I realized unless you’re nominated there’s no fun in attending the Oscars. This time I was just a spectator and to that extent I got to meet a lot of interesting people including the best-actress and best-director winners Sandra Bullock and Katheryn Bigelow who were absolutely charming.”

Clearly the highlight of the evening for Resul was to meet Quentin Tarantino. “I am an absolute fan. And I had to tell him how I liked his Inglourious Basterds. When I spoke to him Quentin turned out to be a great guy with a warm sense of humour. He asked me a lot of questions about my work and Indian cinema.”

To his surprise Resul was recognized at the Oscars this year as the guy who did the sound for Slumdog Millionaire. Says Resul, “A year has passed. But the impact of Slumdog at the Oscars lingered this year . Maybe because no film this year did a clean sweep at the Oscars like Slumdog last year.”

On Friday Resul left for Oman where he and the Big B were going to honoured by the government. Behind the much-publicized visit to the Oscars this week the maverick sound recordist Resul Pookutty had a far bigger mission to accomplish.

On Wednesday Resul closed the deal for his second major international film after Slumdog Millionaire for a film starring the hot and saleable Joaquin Phoenix of Walk The Line and Gladiator fame. Speaking from Manhattan New York on Thursday morning Resul could barely contain his excitement. “My second international film after Slumdog .. had to be an honorable followup. I couldn’t he happier because I am doing a period film .It is a very special challenge because I’ve to recreate the sound textures of New York in 1854.”

Throwing more light on the project Resul says, “It’s an adaptation of a haunting thriller entitled The Beautiful Cigar Girl by Daniel Stashower. It is based on an eerie real-life experience of author Edgar Allen Poe which happened just months before his death.Joaquin Phoenix plays Edgar Allen Poe.”

The film to be directed by Henry Miller will be shot in the US this summer and Resul needs to wrap up all his work in India before he devotes three months to the project.

-Subhash K. Jha/ Sampurn Wire