MUMBAI: The team of Robot has decided to approach the government of Maharashtra to specify quality-control methods to check sound systems in the multiplexes of Mumbai. They also plan to sue the chain of theatres for faulty sound systems.

Last Monday, Rajnikant’s screening of his latest film for his friends from Bollywood culminated in a terrible mess with the sound completely disrupted in the seventh reel. This led to an unscheduled break just before the crucial climax of the film.
Speaking about the fiasco, sound designer Resul Pookutty avers, "From the time the film started screening, I sensed that there was something seriously wrong. Later when I came to know that a few speakers were not working, I wanted to stop the screening immediately but Aamir Khan pacified me explaining that it would not be proper to stop the show abruptly."

The worst followed. "After seven reels with 40 minutes of playing-time still to come, the sound collapsed completely. When finally the screening was restored, the quality of sound had deteriorated further. It was one of the most humiliating evenings of my life," he adds.

It may be noted that, in the South, Pookutty has fought a similar battle to change the sound quality in theatres. “Now patrons there are so conscious of their rights to get optimum-quality sound and visual value that in Kerala, audiences broke seats and disrupted screenings at theatres with sub-standard technical value," he says.