Resul Pookutty on Aadujeevitham: Like Najeeb, we faced lot of hurdles

Malayalam movie, Aadujeevitham or The Goat Life, witnessed South star Prithviraj Sukumaran living under unimaginable circumstances when his character Najeeb, goes to Saudi Arabia with the hopes of finding work as a migrant labourer. Director Blessy's movie is based on the real-life story of a man living in a slave like condition among goats in the desert with little or no water to drink.  

The movie which has already grossed Rs 100 crore internationally, witnessed the coming together of India's two stalwart, AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty. In 2009, the duo made the country proud, after winning an Oscar for 'Slumdog Millionaire'.  

Now in an exclusive chat with WION, Pookutty shared how bringing together the sound of the film, was as strenuous as the titular character's journey in the movie.  

Tell me the effort it took you to make the music a character in 'The Goat Life'.  

It is not just music. It is music and sound together. After a long time, AR Rahman and I came together to create something which has found an identity of its own, within the realm of storytelling of the film. I am very happy that the synergy of our work has come together. The kind of reaction that I am receiving from the audience and people, practitioners is beyond what was expected from an Indian cinema. 

Director Blessy and I have known each other for a long time. When I was doing the first sync sound in a movie, he was an associate director, our relationship started from there. Then again, after 2009, post my Oscar win, he told me that he was planning a film, where he needed my help. That's when he shared that he was making 'Aadujeevitham'. I said WOW.  

Then it took him another seven or eight years to come back to me. In 2017, he said they were going into production; after that, Rahman also joined.  

Then we started shooting in 2018. So, from 2018 to 2024, almost for six years, we've been living, breathing, and working, only in this film. The number of obstacles Blessy and all of us faced is unimaginable.  

(Talking about Najeeb from the book & movie)  

You know, Najeeb's escape from that place was not an easy ride. It took him seven or maybe seven and a half days to escape from the desert. We faced almost similar obstacles like Najeeb faced in his life. Sometimes there were logistic issues and then came the pandemic. But like Najeeb in the film, Blessy had strong faith. This faith in the Almighty has helped him to get over all the obstacles. Otherwise, it was unimaginable for a Malayalam cinema to make a movie of this scale. Now, looking back, everything seems like a rollercoaster ride.  

My favourite composition was when Ibrahim started playing the music in a glass bottle. I want to know how that composition was made?  

Yeah so. What the film meant for me was humanness. In this ecosystem, we human beings have a trait to put ourselves out there to help somebody else. To me 'Aadujeevitham' stands as a testament to what humans can do for one another. So, this composition you are talking about, acknowledges the presence of the other.  

So, AR Rahman originally composed this piece in a flute. Then later I told AR we see this man blowing in the bottle, so we must try that and include that sound. So, I started blowing the bottle in front of the mike and made notes, Meanwhile, Rahman immediately put it together in his composition. At first, it didn't work, then after several tries, we heard it again and realised that AR Rahman's idea of using the flute was better because that sound could transcend what is happening there. In the movie, since we see the man using a bottle to play his music, we sample it with a bottle as well. Then later, when we go in the next shot, the film takes a spiritual turn. The man disappears and the bottle remains his only hope. For me that track was a sign of hope.  

As a musician what kind of sounds are you attracted to?  

For me, the sound of water is something that I always have in my film. In my early film, 'Black', when Amitabh Bachchan takes the young girl Michelle to the fountains to make her understand the meaning of the word, water, that is explained with the sound of water. We did it with droplets of water. So, for me that sound of water is always fascinating, be it rain, stream or seashore.  

In this film, the protagonist comes from Kerala, so there is a sense of water in the film. Even the time when he leaves India, it is raining. So, everything was related to water. Meanwhile, when he reached Saudi Arabia, water was scarce. I had travelled miles and miles, deep in the desert, to find a real oasis, so I can record that space. I found one in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. If you listen to the sound carefully, I could gather the actual sound of the place. The whole sequence then becomes therapeutic for him.  

The sound of water fascinates me, it never bores me, but it is also the most difficult sound to record. If you constantly listen to the sound of rain it sounds like white noise. It is technically challenging but psychologically soothing.  

Whom would you credit the most for your Oscar win? Your days in FTII or your professional experience?  

I would say my schooling days in FTII. It is FTII that has shaped me and given me a sense of direction, and also shaped me as a human being. The art and culture have made me a different artist and human being. It has made me believe in the ethos, culture and tradition of Bharat. It is my institute that has given me all of that.  

Can you comment on the soft power of Indian classical music?  

See if you listen to my Oscar speech, I have explained, 'What is India'. This was explained by Swami Vivekananda too when he addressed the people of America.  

You see everything originated from India. It is the Indian tradition that has understood human body as the first musical instrument.  

We fall in the feet of a true artist as we believe that he is next to God. Can other tradition make a human being so humble?  

We understood it first. Unfortunately, not many are listening to classical music. Some of the biggest and the ancient forms of Indian classical are almost extinct in India. For example, the Dhrupad tradition, the oldest surviving classical style of Hindustani vocal music, exists in Europe. Such is the apathy.  

People who ruled this nation did not have a vision, an idea of the culture we were coming from, or just didn't bother. India is one nation where we do not have a cultural policy. If you lool closely, there are so many states, languages, culture, costumes and vocal traditions. If you collect everything and put it together in a centralised library, nothing can beat it. How many rulers of our nation understand this and the need to protect this culture.  

As a creative person, how do you want to bring about the change?  

We are creative people, practioners. We can only top through our art, the work that we do. The very fact that you are taking my interview today is because 'The Goat Life' is successful and has been accepted by people across the country. The government can make us part of the policy making. I've been part of many policy discussions of the Indian government (names a few), but still our participation is very limited. We can only work through our art.  

What is the Indian tradition all about? If you look at our vedas, everything has come through oral traditions. We have told the world that sound is memory. It is India that understood that sound is memory and memory is knowledge. Our classical tradition talks about emancipation, changing ourselves to be a higher being. Not many Indians are aware of these cultural traditions.  

Final question. Are you expecting Oscar nods for 'The Goat Life'? 

Oscars are for American cinema. But if the film is taken by American industry, 'The Goat Life' has the capacity to be India's 'Parasite'. Let's hope that artists from America respond to the movie. But this is an India story. Story about migrant labourers from Kerala.