The year 2013 saw a mixed bag of successful popular and art house cinema. Sound designers are still to get their due in the Hindi film industry, but with the rise of Resul Pookutty at international level Bollywood filmmakers have started to take this department seriously. From among the top 5 movies that made it to the list of Best Sound Designing, Sarit Chatterjee, Ganesh Gangadharan, and team for Dhoom 3 emerge victorious with an impressive 46.82% of the total votes polled in its favour!
Sarit Chatterjee, Ganesh Gangadharan and team of Dhoom 3 proved how important the sound is to make a film authentic. We hear thousands of voices around us, but very few of them on screen. A sound designer's job in Bollywood is clearly dependent on the mindset of the director because most of the times they don't get a free hand to experiment. Like good war films, we hear good reference sounds in 'Dhoom 3', and especially the bike's sound has been worked upon. The technical brilliance of the sound department brings 'Dhoom 3' in our list.
Abhishek S Bhattathiri and team of Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola earned 8.97 % votes. How would you define a perfectly crafted Bollywood film? In a way, it's a good balance of emotions and actions, and how would you define the emotions. It's the feeling that emerges in the viewer's mind when a scene complimented by background music and sound effects plays in front of him. Sometimes, subjects alone are not enough to provoke the desired results and then sound designers come to the director's rescue. 'Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola' excelled in this department as Vishal Bhardwaj's intended puns were received warmly by the spectators mostly because of the ambiance.
Michael Kaczmarek and team of The Lunchbox earned 18.27% votes. Do you think it was possible for Ritesh Batra to give you the light hearted good feeling without the sound department's help? He took some calculated risks and that went in his favour. The use of Dabbawallah's song in the background transported the audience to Mumbai local trains. The master-stroke was the absence of Bharti Achrekar from the frame. Another high point was the use of old songs. The restaurant in which Irrfan was waiting for Nimrat Kaur appeared like a real situation only because of the sound.
Sarit Chatterjee and team of Shuddh Desi Romance earned 21.04% votes. A film is not just about the vibrant colours, it's also about the premise. 'Shuddh Desi Romance' was set in Jaipur where the viewer expected to hear sound clips different than what they hear in Delhi or Mumbai based films. There is a sequence in the film where you can hear a constant hammering sound in the background. Even if the director was not following the eye line, the sound department made sure that the audience get a feel of the location. A director like Maneesh Sharma should be applauded for breaking the traditional norms and going with the instinct.
Anuj Mathur and team of Mere Dad Ki Maruti earned 4.89% votes: The first thing that a sound engineer learns is the value of silence as the amount of silence in a scene decides its mood. The different cultural aspects of Chandigarh and its relatively barren landscapes were re-created with the help of silence. The sound of the engine's ignition was used with imagination, and this was not the only innovative thing in the film.
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