New Delhi, July 2 (IANS) Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty, who won the hearts of people across the globe with his work in “Slumdog Millionaire”, says he turned to production was because he wanted to make his own kind of films.
“To do my kind of sound work, I need to make my own films because you are always working for somebody else…he or she may not be always aligned with your thoughts and ideas…,” Pookutty told IANS on the phone from Mumbai.
“I thought why not venture into the (production) business because I have already been spending time, effort, money, and I have been toying with the idea for the last two years and I have been wanting to make my own films,” he added.
Pookutty, who has worked for films like “Black”, “Zinda”, “Traffic Signal”, “Gandhi, My Father”, “Ra.One”, launched his own production house Le Penta Entertainment, along with Reliance Entertainment ex-chief Mahesh Ramanathan and three others.
Adding that he formalised what he had been doing for a while informally, Pookutty shared that the long term plan of the company is also to do systematic investment in Hollywood productions as well.
“Our strategy is to do good cinema and consolidate our kind of Indian cinema and also do systematic investment in projects that I am part of in Hollywood as well,” said the Padma Shri awardee.
The 44-year-old also shared that Le Penta Entertainment is planning to make two to three films every year directed not only by Pookutty but by other directors also.
On asking if the house is going to rope in newcomers, he promptly answered: “At the moment our plan is to align wit the A-list actors yes but if the script demands a new face, we would not mind aligning with newcomers. There is no hard and fast rule. Small budget is not at all an issue, I know the strength and the potential of such films as well…”.
Besides being a producer, the Academy award winner has also dubbed in Hindi for the first time for the forthcoming film “Gour Hari Dastaan – The Freedom File” which is a biopic on freedom fighter Gour Hari Das.