Resul Pookutty slammed the Kerala Film Awards jury

Oscar award winner Resul Pookutty has slammed the Kerala Film Awards jury, saying it had neglected the sound mixing category in Pazhassiraja movie, which won eight State awards. Pookutty told the media in New Delhi yesterday that the jury members did not have any knowledge in sound mixing that they could not distinguish sound and music. The jury members had imposed their ignorance on the common man. While giving the award for sound recording to Harikumar for the film, Pathamnilayile Theevandi, the jury opined that the sound of Pazhassiraja was not rooted in Malayalam. �Im not disappointed because the jury, which judged the films, does not have the basic sense of sound and music, he said. To opine that the sound in Pazhassiraja was devoid of basic Malayalam characteristics showed the ignorance of the jury. �I respect the jury for what they are but they should not impose their judgment on the people of Kerala�, he said. Pookutty said he was not sore with the jury for not giving him the award. Just because he happened to win an Oscar also did not automatically qualify him for the award. It was not Pookutty alone who flayed the jury. Novelist and film critic C V Balakrishnan said Sai Paranjpe, the head of the jury, �is senile and outdated. She had judged films from a vintage angle because she�s ignorant of the latest in film-making�. Another harsh comment from the jury was about film-maker Shaji N Karun�s Kutty Srank, starring Mammootty. �We don�t take a film-maker into account. It�s true Shaji had a brilliant film like Piravi. But Kutty Srank did not rise to a certain level. There were some seven to eight well-made films and Srank did not quite make it�, said Paranjpe in reply to questions.