Vishnu Govind (born 15 January 1986) is an Indian

re-recording mixer A re-recording mixer in North America, also known as a dubbing mixer in Europe, is a post-production audio engineer who mixes recorded dialogue, sound effects and music to create the final version of a soundtrack for a feature film, television pr ...

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

er and sound editor. He has worked in over 150 films in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

languages. He won the ''

National Film Award for Best Audiography The National Film Award for Best Sound Design is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Silv ...

'' ''(Re-recordist of the final mixed track)'' for the Malayalam film ''

Malik Malik (; ; ; variously Romanized ''Mallik'', ''Melik'', ''Malka'', ''Malek'', ''Maleek'', ''Malick'', ''Mallick'', ''Melekh'') is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...

'' (2020). Govind is also a recipient of the '' Kerala State Film Award for Best Sound Design'' along with Sree Sankar, for the films ''

Unda Unda or UNDA may refer to: * Unda (genus), a genus of Amoebozoa * Unda (plural "undae"), a term for an extraterrestrial dune field * Unda (organization), the International Catholic Association for Radio and Television which was merged with OCIC t ...

'' (2018) and ''

Ishq ''Ishq'' () is an Arabic word meaning 'love' or 'passion', also widely used in other languages of the Muslim world and the Indian subcontinent. The word ''ishq'' does not appear in the central religious text of Islam, the Quran, which instead u ...

'' (2019).

Early life

A native of

Thiruvalla Thiruvalla, () also spelled Tiruvalla, is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of and has a population of 52,883 people, down from 56,837 in 2001. It is also the H ...

, Govind attended '' St. Berchmans College'', Changanassery, graduating in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. While at ''St. Berchmans'', he met future sound designer/editor Sree Sankar with whom he has collaborated on a number of projects. Since they both shared keen interest in music and movies, they became friends and eventually set off to pursue a career in

Audio Engineering Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound * Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of soun ...

. In 2006, Govind enrolled in the graduate program of ''Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu'' (FTIT), formerly known as ''Adayar Film Institute'', for

Sound Engineering An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduct ...

Sound Recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...

. During his time in college, he encountered and became friends with

Alphonse Puthren Alphonse Puthren is an Indian film director, film producer, actor, editor, screenwriter and ad film maker. He works mainly in the Malayalam Cinema. He made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed Malayalam - Tamil bilingual suspe ...

Karthik Subbaraj Karthik Subbaraj (born 19 March 1983) is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter working mainly in Tamil cinema. Early life Karthik did his schooling in SBOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School, Madurai after which he w ...

Nalan Kumarasamy Nalan Kumarasamy (born 25 October 1980) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in the Tamil film industry. He started his career as a short filmmaker and won the title of the first season of ''Naalaya Iyakunar''. He made his featu ...

Vijay Sethupathi Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi Kalimuthu (born 16 January 1978) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Sethupathi is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Awards, National F ...

Bobby Simha Jayasimha (born 6 November 1983), better known as Bobby Simha, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu films. After making brief appearances in the films ''Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi'' an ...

, Rajesh Murgeshan and

Shabareesh Varma Shabareesh Varma is an Indian lyricist, playback singer and actor who works in Malayalam films. Personal life Varma was born to P. K Nandan Varma and Sulekha Varma in North Paravur, Ernakulam. After completing his graduation from MES College ...

; all of these men would go on to be successful

filmmakers Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwritin ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

s and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

Career

Govind started his career as an ADR recordist in ''

AVM Studios AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...

'',

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. He first worked on

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Neram'' (2012) before quitting the job to focus entirely on films. His

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

debut came with

's Tamil film, ''

Pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

'' (2012). The film marked the start of his partnership with Sree Sankar and they went on to establish their studio, ''Sound Factor''. Govind and Sankar had created a sound script for ''

''(2012) and used the most advanced audio format for cinema available at the time and incidentally becoming the first South Indian film mixed in '' Dolby 7.1 surround sound''. The film was received well by audiences and critics alike. M.Suganth of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' noted "While Resul Pookutty's Oscar win in 2009 created an awareness of this community, in Tamil cinema, it was Pizza in 2012, that made people sit up and take notice of sound design." They were nominated for the ''Mirchi Music Awards for Best Sound Mixing'' that year for designing the

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term, originally coined by Michael Southworth, was popularized by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...

of the film and went on to collaborate with Karthik Subbaraj in his two future films - '' Jigarthanda'' (2014) and ''

Iraivi Iraivi () is a 2016 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by C. V. Kumar, K. E. Gnanavel Raja and Abinesh Elangovan under their banners Thirukumaran Entertainment, Studio Gree ...

'' (2016). The former set a landmark by becoming the first

South Indian film Cinema of South India, refers to the cinema of the four major film industries in South India; primarily engaged in making feature films in the four major Dravidian languages of the region, namely Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. They are ...

to be mixed in ''

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

''. Govind along with Sankar made his Malayalam film debut with ''

Neram ''Neram'' () is a 2013 Indian black comedy thriller film written, directed and edited by Alphonse Puthren in his directorial debut. It is simultaneously made in Malayalam and Tamil languages. It is an extended version of the short film of th ...

''(2013) and went on to work with its director, Alphonse Puthren in ''

Premam ''Premam'' () is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language coming of age romantic comedy film written, directed and edited by Alphonse Puthren. It was produced by Anwar Rasheed and stars Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi (in her major film debut). It also f ...

'' (2015) and ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

'' (2022). Starting in 2017, with

Soubin Shahir Soubin Shahir (born 12 October 1983) is an Indian actor, director and producer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He made his acting debut with '' Annayum Rasoolum'' (2013). Following his breakthrough with '' Premam'' (2015), he played th ...

's debut film '' Parava,'' Govind has also served as the re-recording mixer for a number of films''.'' The duo won two consecutive ''Behindwoods Gold Medal for Best Sound'' for '' Iruthi Suttru''(2016) and ''

Aval ''Aval'' ( in Tamil) may refer to these Indian films: * Aval (1967 film), ''Aval'' (1967 film) * Aval (1972 film), ''Aval'' (1972 film) * Aval (2017 film), ''Aval'' (2017 film) See also

* Aval (TV series), ''Aval'' (TV series), a 2011 Indian ...

''(2017). Both these Tamil films were remade in

as ''Saala Khadoos'' (2016) and ''House Next Door'' (2017) respectively. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Sound Design for the films ''

'' (2018) and ''

'' (2019), which he shared with Sankar. In 2020, he teamed up with

Mahesh Narayanan Mahesh Narayanan (born 2 May 1982) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, he has also worked in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Bollywood, Hindi films. He is a recipient of the ...

for his films '' C U Soon'' and ''

.'' Having previously collaborated with Narayanan in '' Take Off(2017)'' as its sound designer, Govind handled the design, editing and mixing of sound for ''Malik.'' The film's theatrical release was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and eventually got released on ''Amazon Prime Video'' in 2021. It received mostly positive responses from the critics. ''Behindwoods'' wrote: "The sound design was fabulous. The presence of deep bass at the time of actions and the perfect balance of ambience sound with the dialogues that carried an intensity made the scenes much more effective". The film earned him his first

(Re-recordist of the final mixed track). The jury appreciated him for "creating a life like ambience through a dextrous audio scope." Govind worked with A.R Rahman for the film ''

Malayankunju ''Malayankunju'' is a 2022 Indian Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mah� ...

'' (2022), which marked Rahman's return to

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

as a composer, after a hiatus of 28 years. In an interview with ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'', Sajimon Prabhakar, director of the film said, "It was not an easy project for the sound designers. We don't know what are the sounds that one can hear under the ground. They had no references as well." Govind used ''

'', an immersive sound format, to mix the sound in the film. Following its release, the reception was generally positive with the film receiving praises for its scope, ambition and technical aspects. Lalitha Suhasini, former editor of ''

Rolling Stone India ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known f ...

'' wrote "The movie's soundscape brings to mind Danny Boyle's 2010 film ''

127 Hours ''127 Hours'' is a 2010 biographical drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Danny Boyle. The film mainly stars James Franco, with Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, and Clémence Poésy appearing in brief supporting roles. In the film, cany ...

'', both incidentally scored by A.R. Rahman. Govind makes us feel stuck with Anikuttan by creating a brilliantly lulling silence in the film." Nirmal Jovial of ''

The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...

'' wrote "''Malayankunju'' is a film that deserves a theatrical watch. The kind of experience it offers on a small screen will not be comparable to that on the big screen." Since 2020, he has worked on the sound and mixing of numerous films, notably ''

Anjaam Pathiraa ''Anjaam Pathiraa'' () (promoted as Midnight Murders outside Kerala and Internationally) is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Midhun Manuel Thomas. The film stars Kunchacko Boban, Sharaf U Dheen, S ...

'' (2020), ''

Soorarai Pottru ''Soorarai Pottru'' () is a 2020 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Sudha Kongara, who wrote the screenplay with Shalini Usha Nair. The film, co-produced by Suriya and Jyothika of 2D Entert ...

'' (2020), ''

Ayyappanum Koshiyum ''Ayyappanum Koshiyum'' () is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Sachy (in his last film as director). Produced by Ranjith and P. M. Sasidharan, starring Biju Menon and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lea ...

'' (2020), ''

Operation Java ''Operation Java'' is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film produced by V Cinemas International, written and directed by Tharun Moorthy (in his feature film debut). It stars an ensemble cast including Balu Varghese, Lukman Avar ...

'' (2021), ''

Kaanekkaane ''Kaanekkaane'' is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language drama thriller film written by Bobby and Sanjay and directed by Manu Ashokan. The film stars Suraj Venjaramoodu, Tovino Thomas, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Shruthi Ramachandran in important roles. ...

'' (2021), '' Mahaveeryar'' (2022), and ''Thallumala'' (2022). In 2023, Govind worked on the design and mixing of sound for the film

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, The film received generally positive reviews and became the highest grossing Malayalam film of all time at the box office. Vijayalakshmi Narayanan of ''

The Free Press Journal ''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a s ...

'' wrote "Akhil George's cinematography, coupled with Mohandas' production design and Vishnu Govind's sound, creates the sense of urgency and palpable tension, that will leave your heart pounding in instances, more than once."

Selected filmography

Awards

* 2019: Kerala State Film Awards for Best Sound Design along with Sree Sankar for

* 2020: National Film Awards for Best Audiography(Re-recordist of the final mixed track) for

* 2022:

Kerala Film Critics Association Awards The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were instit ...

for the Best Sound Recording for

* 2024: Indian Recording Arts Academy (IRAA) Award for Best Sound Mixing (Film or Web Release) - Regional for Neelavelicham

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Govind, Vishnu Living people Re-recording mixers Indian sound designers Indian sound editors Best Audiography National Film Award winners Kerala State Film Award winners Indian audio engineers 1986 births Audiographers from Kerala