8 MAY 18, 2011
Listen to the film audio tracks,
The wizard
of sounds
H
is father wanted him to become a violinist; he
aspired to become a cinematographer. But des-
tiny willed otherwise; it was sympathetic to his
passion for cinema, though, in guiding him to an allied
specialisation—sound engineering.
Rajakrishnan has made the cut in the film industry
as a talented sound engineer.
When we met him at his studio at Kodambakkam
in Chennai, Raj was excited about the buzz set off by
some of his recent movies such as “Urumi”, “Traffic”
and “Madirasippatanam”.
A passion for cinema was perhaps natural in
the case of Raj who grew up seeing artists all
around him. The son of late musician, M G Rad-
hakrishnan, he recalls his father’s advice, “You
need only your ears for this job”. An economics
graduate, he moved to Chennai to seek advice from fam-
ily friend Priyadarshan who at that time was setting up a
studio.
He began a six-month training under Deepan Chat-
terji—recordist for the legendary R D Burman—who was
tasked with establishing Priyan’s state-of-the-art studio.
Those initial days were quite intimidating for a youngster
who could not make head or tail of the high-end machines
in the studio.
So put off was he by the sophistication of audio engi-
neering that at one point he called it quits and returned
to Thiruvananthapuram. It was at this juncture that one
of his friends told him about Deepan Chaterjee’s high re-
gard for his talent. That testimonial was just the dose of
self-belief and confidence that Raj required to return to
Chennai with fire in the belly. And, he went on to establish
himself as an accomplished engineer in the industry.
In an impressive career spanning 13 years Rajakrishnan
TEASERS>
1. A juggler must perform a trick in which he
crosses a narrow bridge juggling 3 balls.
He weighs 80 kg and each one of the balls
weighs 10 kg. However, the bridge can hold
only 100 kg without breaking. The lion tamer,
his colleague, says that as long as he keeps
one ball in the air, the bridge won’t collapse.
Is he right?
2. Dead on the field lie ten soldiers in white, felled
by three eyes, black as night. What’s going
on here?
3. My first is nothing but a name
My second is more small
My whole is of so little fame
It has no name at all
What’s the word?
Hint: “First” and “Second” refer to syllables and
“Whole” refers to the word.
4. If two hours ago it was as long after one
o’clock in the afternoon as it was before one
o’clock in the morning. What time would it
be now?  9. Insert appropriate mathematical symbols to
5. I can be smooth and creamy  make a true math statement. For example
Or I can be cool and dreamy.
Whatever suits your taste.
and the artist behind them.
has worked in about 150 films across all languages. Music
directors Ousepachan and Rajamani, were among those
who spotted his talent and endorsed him to others.
Raj bagged the Film Critics Award for his work in “Anan-
thabhadram” besides being nominated for the Shantaram
award for “Sukhanth” and “Kancheevaram”. He has also
composed music for “Winter”.
The first independent work Raj did was for “Aparichi-
than” which he rates as his best sound mix because he
was given ample freedom.
The biggest challenge according to him is the poor
acoustic standards in many theatres. “I get into lots of
detailing when I mix in my studio. But to get this effect
in theatres of Kerala is very difficult since the acoustics,
sound system is under par. Even if the weakened sound
effect is due to a malfunctioning speaker in the theatre,
the blame is placed on the sound engineer,” he rues.
He feels that theatre owners and operators need to be
sensitised on the advancements in sound engineering and
Try juggling this
But one thing to remember I’m made with bac-
terial waste.
Some like me in a cup,  8. 25
Some frozen on a stick.
Some eat me with a spoon,
And some just like to lick.
Some like me with their breakfast,  two hours ago, the time would now be 9 o’clock.
Some as a tasty treat.
But as I said before I’m made with bacterial
waste you eat.
What am I?
6. DRMS=PM of I. What does this stand for?
7. 50 10 10 8 6 3
Using all the numbers above just once, can you
make the number 832?
8. A 30-year old man married a 25-year old
woman. She died at age 50 and her husband
was so devastated that he cried for years.
Ten years after he stopped crying, he died. If
he had lived to be 80, how many years was
he a widower?
252 = 1002, the answer is 25 x 2 = 100/2.
Now solve this: 56016 = 1817
FIRST TAKE>
Jyothi Varma
AC TION
audio technology.
“There is a general
feeling that if the film
is loud, it sounds good
whereas it is not so in
the case of international
benchmarks. The dia-
logues in foreign films
are set at a very low fre-
quency so that the surrounds
and other effects also reach
the audience,” he says.
To a layman, a movie is just
about the actors. “However, I dare
say that a film is all about light and
sound,” says Raj. Perhaps the first time
people recognised the presence of this
breed of
cinema professionals was when Resul Pookkutty won
the Oscar.
Raj is also into sound designing; he designs the sound
for a whole movie. A lot of creativity and imagination is
in play here. “The usual method used to create an essen-
tially outdoor sound like the trotting of horses is by filling
empty coconut shells with mud and banging them on the
floor,” he explains.
Guess how you get the creak of opening a door? Twist
a crushed plastic bottle!
“Mixing is like a bit cooking. You have all the ingredi-
ents with you. It’s your skill
that brings out a good product. The ratio, mix and the
procedure should be proper,” he says.
n
9. 560/16 = 18+17
7. 10 x 10 x 8 + 50 – 6x3
6.Dr Manmohan Singh = Prime Minister of India
5. Yogurt or frozen yogurt
mark would have to be seven o’clock. If it was 7 o’clock
two times, and half of that time is six, then the halfway
4. Nine o’clock. Since there are 12 hours between the
3. Nameless
2. A strike was thrown in 10 pin bowling.
he is standing on will collapse.
and the total will be over 100 kg. Therefore, the bridge
the juggler and the weight of the balls he is holding,
throw the ball into the air. Add that to the weight of
weighs 10 kg, it takes a force more than 10 kg to
fact, the lion tamer is wrong. Since each ball
tion has an equal and opposite reaction. In
1. Newton’s Third Law says, every ac-
Answers