Picture this: You are sitting in the dark labyrinth of a movie theatre, and you hear the distant hum of a sports car. The vibration and the accuracy of its scream startles you. The hero opens the door, and you hear his leather boots authoritatively gripping the ground. He flicks the lighter, and you hear the sizzle of the cigarette catch fire as he faces an army of aliens descending from the sky.

You might have pictured this scene in your mind, but did you also imagine the sounds that you would hear as you pictured this scene? If you did, you are truly listening to what breathing life into a scene means.

“I always enjoyed and took a keen interest in the music and sound design of various movies and television shows and it was something that always caught my attention. My interest peaked when I got involved in Singing and Music arrangement for college festivals, for which I received a lot of appreciation and support. It was then that I realized that music and sound was my passion and I wanted to pursue a career in this.” This is what Sachin Sudhakaran, Sound Designer and Co-founder of SYNC CINEMA, had to say regarding his journey to becoming one of the reasons we can hear good cinema.

With roots tied to our very own Indian School Muscat, Sachin points out inspirations that he drew from his time in Oman.

“Most definitely ISM had a major part to play in what I am today. ISM gave me the confidence to pursue my passion and dreams. The support I received from my friends from ISM gave me the motivation to pursue my ambition and aspirations.”

Art is all about experience, exploration, and the courage to do what others don’t dare to do. Every great artist and musician has stories from which they take inspiration and friends that push them to do more.

“I always look up to my friends from ISM for hope and support, as we all grew up together and genuinely cared and looked out for each other’s well-being.”

Observing art says a lot about who you are as an artist. You could be someone who loves to look at its grand scheme and enjoy it in its entirety, or you could be someone who observes every little stroke, every note, and every vibration of the final tapestry.

Speaking to Sachin about his decision to pursue this passion, he talked about not knowing how to compose music but loved the finer details of this art form.

“I wanted to get into the technical side of creating music, so I did my sound engineering in Chennai and chose sound design as my career which is different from creating music, more into film sound, but have to work closely with music director. So that’s how SYNC CINEMA was formed along with Hariharan, its an Audio Post Production Studio in Chennai.”

I remember being told that there was an opportunity to talk to someone who had just bagged an award for Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s latest project, Animal. Surpassing the joy of talking to someone from the project was the enthusiasm of knowing the voice behind the Sound Designer who took home the award for the movie.

With massive projects that shine brightly in his career trajectory, some we have all come to love, Sachin and his team have operated behind the scenes to evoke something in all of us as we watch the films we love. From the melodies that capture the hearts of lovers through “Hridayam” and the whistles we let out for The Thalapathy when we see him in “Leo” to the feeling of something primal evoked in us when we watched Ranbir Kapoor in “Animal”, Sachin and his team in SYNC CINEMA have orchestrated brilliance in every frame.

When asked about feeling a sense of achievement, he said, “When the director is satisfied with our work and also when the movie is out, the audience or the people in the film industry appreciate our sound work in the film, that’s when I and my team feel a sense of achievement.”

Like you, I was also curious about the science of Sound Design, the discipline of capturing art, and how it’s portrayed so that the audience can absorb and live out the tale vicariously.

“A new project always starts with having a discussion with the director to understand on what soundscape or what kind of sounds he is looking for. So from there, we start understanding his vision, and then we work around it to make it better and go in sync with the visuals and work side-by-side with the movie editor and the music director.”

Apart from being mere vibrations, sounds have the power to form tales and convince you that what you are listening to is authored by a vision.

“Sound design is how filmmakers flesh out the aural world of a film to enhance the mood, atmosphere, and/or tone. Sound design is the final and most important element needed to create an immersive experience for the audience. It’s like telling a story through sound/sound effects. Sound design has an extremely important role in adding emotion to a film; a viewer can get a great idea of the mood from a particular scene just by the ambience/atmospheric sounds alone.”

Haven’t we wondered about the process of making a film? The budget, the talent, the hard work; and even though you want to credit it to a team effort, there’s always that age-old question that lingers, “Is it the Director or the Story?”. Creative control has often affected many promising projects over the years, and Sachin agreed to its presence.

“Definitely creative control plays an important role, in sound design and also in other departments of sound post production. In the final stage of the post production is where the director, sound designer, sound mixing engineer and music director work together and if everyone is on the same page we can always create good sounding films.”

I have to admit to you that I was very sceptical about the advancement of technology. There was just something about composing ghazals and putting together tracks with a live orchestra in film sets. But over the years, it’s been imperative to find the balance of mixing technology with music. And I had to ask the big “AI” question now that everything has that attached to it.

“It’s pretty impressive that AI can generate a track in seconds. But It can’t replicate the emotion and quality of music produced by people who are dedicated to their craft. And seeing as AI music is essentially borrowing from human-made compositions anyway, there really is no substitute for real music! That’s not to say AI has no place in the world of music production. AI-powered tools can improve the production process and allow musicians to unleash their creativity.”

Sachin Sudhakaran and his team at SYNC CINEMA give hope to those artists who see beauty in the mundane, a tribe of artists who script stories beyond lines and actions. At this point, it was quite obvious to know what he had to impart to those who wanted to be a part of this industry and make it big.

“Worst advice- “It’s difficult to survive in this industry.”

Best advice- “It’s difficult to survive in this industry.”

We took this advice, pushed ourselves, and worked hard to reach a stage where we are doing good films and associated with good directors and even production houses.”

Here’s a bonus soundtrack for you to play while you aspire to make it big.

Are you an ex-ISMite? Have a passion for music? “Yes, I am definitely up for collaborations. I would love to visit ISM someday and talk to the students who are interested in pursuing a career in sound and music. My message to the ISM students today would be to follow your passion and work hard to achieve your goals.”