Los Angeles (Agencies): A.R. Rahman, Gulzar, Slumdog Millionaire and Smile Pinky made it Day of India at the Oscars with the Mozart of Madras winning two awards for original score and best song along with Gulzar.
An ecstatic Rahman perfomed his O Saya and Jai Ho as he accepted the awards.
India-based Slumdog Millionaire and Smile Pinky won seven awards together on Sunday. While Slumdog... won the best original score, best song, best adapted screenplay, best cinematography, best sound mixing and best film editing statuettes, Pinky won the best short documentary.
India's Resul Pokutty, who won the best sound mixing Oscar for Slumdog... along with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke, dedicated the award for the country.
LOS ANGELES: Slumdog Millionaire is arriving at the last stop in its rags-to-riches journey, steaming into the Academy Awards as the surefire favourite.
In keeping with its theme of bottomless optimism amid adversity, it has led a charmed life, dodging a flirtation with going straight-to-DVD, winning over critics and climbing toward a $100 million hit status. The film has won top honours at all key earlier awards ceremonies, with one to go.
As Sunday dawned under grey skies here, with rain threatening to dampen the red carpet for the second year in a row and Hollywood’s latest labour feud kicking up fresh news of another contract rejection, it seemed nothing could drag down the year’s most uplifting storyline.
Now its cast of unknowns — from new celebrities Dev Patel and Freida Pinto to kids plucked by British director Danny Boyle from the slums of Mumbai, India — are all getting a trip to Hollywood’s glitziest party.
For best picture, Slumdog Millionaire faces off against the romantic epic The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the Richard Nixon saga Frost/Nixon, the Harvey Milk tale Milk and the Holocaust-themed drama The Reader.
Shot in India on a modest budget of $14 million, the Boyle film traces the life of a Mumbai orphan who overcomes poverty, betrayal, police torture and other hardships on his way to a reunion with his childhood love and success on India’s version of the TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
After last year’s Oscars delivered their worst TV ratings ever, producers this time say they aim to liven up the show with some surprises and new ways of presenting awards. While some details have surfaced in the past week, most plans have remained a secret, including the identities of celebrities who are presenting the trophies.
The host is no secret. The producers have tapped 40-year-old Australian entertainer Hugh Jackman, who has hosted Broadway’s Tony Awards three times, to emcee the Oscars for the first time.
“If I hadn’t done the Tonys, I think I’d be a lot more nervous than I am,” Jackman said.
Sunday’s ceremony, airing live on the ABC television network, features a mix of fresh faces and old Oscar hands in the acting categories.
Two-time winner Meryl Streep extended her record to 15 nominations, this time for best actress in Doubt, while other past Oscar recipients and nominees include Sean Penn (best actor for Milk, Kate Winslet (best actress for The Reader, Robert Downey Jr. (supporting actor for Tropic Thunder and Philip Seymour Hoffman (supporting actor for Doubt)
Newcomers include a rush of veteran performers, among them best-actress contenders Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) and Melissa Leo (Frozen River) and best-actor candidates Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor).
The Dark Knight co-star Heath Ledger is considered as strong a candidate for supporting actor as Slumdog Millionaire is for best picture and director. Ledger, who died on Oscar nominations day last year, took comic-book villains to new heights with his delirious incarnation of Batman foe the Joker.
Past winner Angelina Jolie and her man, Brad Pitt, both are nominated. She’s up for best actress in Changeling and he’s competing for best actor in Benjamin Button, which leads with 13 nominations, followed by Slumdog with 10
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