Subscribe to Posts
Subscribe to Comments
Showing posts with label oscars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oscars. Show all posts

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ wins 8 Academy Awards

Posted by Mohan Desai On 2:15 PM 0 comments

It’s a proud moment for India as Slumdog Millionaire bagged 8 Oscars at the Academy Awards. After winning numerous awards including the Golden Globes and the BAFTA, it was all down to this one moment of glory, the Oscars.It beat four other contenders Sunday - “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Frost/Nixon”, “Milk” and “The Reader” - to win best film at the awards ceremony in London’s Royal Opera House.
Danny Boyle bagged the best director award for Slumdog Millionaire, beating all the others in the category including Clint Eastwood for Changeling, David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Ron Howard for Howard Nixon and Stephen Daldry for “The Reader”.
Slumdog Millionaire had been nominated for 10 categories including the best picture and best original score for A R Rahman. Out of all this Slumdog has bagged 8 oscars in the following order.

Best Picture: Slumdog MillionaireBest Director: Danny Boyle: Slumdog Millionaire Best Original Song: Rahman and Gulzar - ‘Jai Ho’Original Score: A. R. Rahman - Slumdog MillionaireBest Editing: Chris Dickens Best Sound Mixing: Resul Pookutty, Ian Tapp, Richard PrykeBest Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle - Slumdog MillionaireBest Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millonaire

These are the rest of the Oscar’s list.
Following is the list of 2009 Oscar Award winners.
Best Actress – Kate Winslet – The ReaderBest Makeup - Greg Cannom - The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonBest Art Direction - Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo - The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonBest Visual Effects - Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron - The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonBest Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger - The Dark KnightBest Sound Editing - Richard King - The Dark KnightBest Supporting Actress -Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina BarcelonaBest Costume Design - Michael O'Connor - The DuchessBest Animated Film - Andrew Stanton - WALL·EBest Writing & Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen - Dustin Lance Black - Milk

, , , | | edit post

Two Mumbai slum kids set for fairytale journey to Oscars

Posted by Mohan Desai On 1:16 PM 0 comments
They have never boarded a plane, lived in a pucca house or attended a proper school. But little Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail will still journey into a star-studded world as they attend the glitzy Oscars ceremony on February 22.
The lives of these Mumbai slum children have taken a fairytale spin just like the story of Slumdog Millionaire, the film by director Danny Boyle that they famously star in and which has bagged 10 nominations at the 81st Academy Awards.
On Thursday, they will fly off to walk the red carpet and rub shoulders with the who's who of Hollywood at the Oscars.
"I think we will win all the awards. We will win 10 out of 10," Azharuddin, 10, who essayed the role of a young Salim, the protagonist's brother, told a news channel.
Rubina, 9, who played young Latika, added: "I don't know anything now. I will see what happens there."
Just a few days back, their dream to attend one of the most glamorous events of the world was jeopardised by their poverty stricken life. Their parents were not keen on sending them to the Oscars and instead wanted the plane fare to be utilised for other necessities.
However, after a change of plan, Rubina will be escorted by her uncle and Azharuddin will be accompanied by his mother to the event.
"I was thinking that I would love to go but never thought this will come true through Rubina," said Rubina's uncle.
Echoing similar sentiments, Azharuddin's mother expressed good wishes for the director.
Not many moons ago these kids from the stark, dingy bylanes of a Mumbai slum only dreamt of living a comfortable life. And with ailing parents and hardly any money for survival, that seemed far from reality. But today they have been catapulted to celebrity status not only in their locality but in the entire world.
Their dreams have changed too. Rubina and Azharuddin now want to become actors even though they continue to live in their makeshift homes in a slum in the Bandra neighbourhood. Thanks to the director, they are also going to a proper school and might move into better houses soon.
For these two, a life out of the slum will be a long journey encompassing hardships, but with this opportunity they will get to enjoy the best of the world.
Another kid, Mozhim Shakim Sheikh Qureshi, who played a cripple in the movie, however, was not as lucky as his friends. The 13-year-old got injured while jumping off a train. His left arm is badly damaged and will take at least a month for him to recover.



, , , , , | | edit post

Jai Ho: AR Rahman bags two Oscars

Posted by Mohan Desai On 1:02 PM 0 comments
Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman became the first Indian to bag two Oscars for his work in British filmmaker Danny Boyle's much acclaimed "Slumdog Millionaire", which tells the rags-to-riches story of a Mumbai slum dweller. He got his first Oscar on the night of the 81st Academy Awards here for best original score for the Mumbai-based drama.The composer was overwhelmed and interspersed his speech with Hindi as well as Tamil on receiving the coveted trophy here Sunday."There is a dialogue from an old Hindi film - "Mere paas ma hai" - which means I have nothing but a mother. My mother is here, I have her blessings. I am glad she could be here," said Rahman.He ended the acceptance speech by saying "God is great" in Tamil, something he says after winning every award. He shared the second Oscar for best original song for the film's theme number "Jai Ho" with noted Indian lyricist Gulzar. "All my life I had a choice between hate and love. I chose love and I am here," said Rahman after receiving his second golden statuette. Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman's wife used to wake up in the middle of the night and say "I want you to win an Oscar". Now he has won two. It's not only her dream that has turned into reality at the 81st annual Academy Awards, it's a milestone for Bollywood too.Bollywood celebrated as Rahman bagged the Oscars for best original score in "Slumdog Millionaire" and its theme song "Jai Ho".Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap is all praises for the singer-composer. He said: "This is a happy moment for all of us. We all should celebrate because he (Rahman) has made us proud. Finally we did it!Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who has worked with Rahman for his films "Rang De Basanti" and "Delhi-6", says the singer-composer truly deserved the award."I am proud and so happy that it's A.R. He brought north and south India together when he started composing music and now he has successfully bridged the gap between the east and the west. It's incredible! There are more people in the west who know him now than they know about his work," Mehra told.Rahman, the first Indian musician to win the annual Academy Award, was listed for three of the film's ten Oscar nominations - one for his original score and two others for songs composed by him, "O Saya" and "Jai Ho".According to singer Mohit Chauhan who has sung in Rahman's latest hit composition "Masakalli" from "Delhi-6", this Oscar win is an inspiration for the Indian music industry."It is very encouraging. Rahman is a great inspiration for all the musicians in the country. And it's a great honour also. Our films are going places and so is our music. We can look ahead to good times," said Chauhan.Veteran filmmaker and critic Aziz Mirza says: "The international recognition that Rahman has earned for himself makes every Indian proud. He deserves it more than anybody else for his wholehearted dedication to music. It's a rare honour. I congratulate Rahman." Southern actor R. Madhavan feels Rahman should have won an Oscar the very first time he composed music because he truly deserves it. Actress Divya Dutta hails the composer and says she is extremely proud of his win. "Like every Indian, I am very happy about the win. I was sure Rahman will come back with the award. The film was amazing," said Dutta. Before this, only two Indians have won the Oscar in its 80 year history - Satyajit Ray was given the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992 and Bhanu Athaiya won the best costume design Oscar along with John Mollo for the 1982 film "Gandhi."

, , , , | | edit post

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

RECENT POSTS