'Slumdog' star kid loses her all awards to Bandra fire

MUMBAI: Rubina Ali, who essayed the role of young Latika in 'Slumdog Millionaire', lost all the international awards she had won in the Garib Nagar blaze that took place on Friday night.

Rubina, now a Std III student, had to miss school on Saturday. "I lost the six trophies I had won in the fire. Thankfully, my passport was spared.'' She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Slumdog Millionaire and was also honoured at the Academy Awards.

"We couldn't save much. All her clothes, including the dress she wore at the Oscars, and jewellery are gone,'' her father, Rafiq Qureshi added.

Both Rubina and her co-star Azharuddin were promised homes and education by Danny Boyle. While Azhar moved into his new house in Santa Cruz, Rubina and her family were still living at Garib Nagar. Qureshi had sought a home in Bandra as he has set up his business there. Niraja Mattoo of Plan India, the NGO which is funding the children's education and homes, said, "Rubina has got a house in Bandra (West) and will be moving there by next month.''

Rubina and Azhar are not the only kids from Garib Nagar who work in films and television. Parvez Shaikh, coordinator for child artistes, had been living here for 20 years. "I got work for 25 to 30 kids in films and television serials. I managed to saved my family, but our belongings were burnt in the fire. Mera sab kuchh khatam ho gaya (It's all over for me).''

He screamed and added, " Priya Dutt and Baba Siddiqui come here and tell us that we are encroachers of railway land. It is really shameful that the same lady's father Sunil Dutt had slept in front of the bulldozer and stopped Garib Nagar from being demolished.''

Teenagers Salman, Jafar, Almas and Fayyaz, who played main roles in Irfan Kamal's film Thanks Maa too lost most of their possessions in the fire. The director said, "I am in touch with their families and will work out something for them.''

Boyle and Jai Ho Trust have been working with the slum children of Garib Nagar for over two years now. Mattoo, who is also the trustee of Jai Ho, said, "We informed Danny Boyle about the incident. He was concerned about the children of the area.''

After working with Rubina and Azharuddin in Slumdog, Danny vowed to help other children of Garib Nagar. "He felt it was also his moral responsibility to take care of other kids of the area. Our trust has tied up with Plan India an NGO which is doing the ground work for the kids of the area.''

While Rubina Ali, Slumdog Millionaire star was fluttering around like a butterfly, hundreds of other children of Garib Nagar were burning their small hands with hot food packets that was being given to them by voluntarily organizations. There were others who were carrying half burnt utensils and other stuff to sell to the bhangarwalas who were buying them at Rs 20 per kilogram.

A team of volunteers from Plan India have built tents which can accommodate about 1000 children. Dev Dutt of Plan India said,, " We are working on the relief by providing food and temporary shelter for the children of the area. There are 100 children who were supposed to appear for their board exams but all their hall tickets were burnt in the fire.Although not all of them agreed to appear for the exams after their homes got gutted in the fire, six of them are appearing for the exams after we requested the principals of their school.''

Rubina Ali wearing a red salwar kameez now a class 3 student was feeling bad that she missed school because of the fire that burnt down her house. Refusing to stay in one place, the Slumdog actor said, " I have lost all my six trophies in the fire thankfully my passport is saved.'' Rubina had won the Screen Actor's Guild award for Slumdog Millionaire and was given a citation by the Oscars. She said, " I had won international and national awardsfor my film but all that has gone.'' Her father said, " all my daughter's clothes including what she wore for the Oscars were burnt in the fire. We could hardly save anything. Her gold also got lost.''

Locals of the area were not really liking the attention Rubina, One said, " they already have a house don't know why people are only giving them importance. There are 100s of families that have lost everything and hundreds of children who are homeless.''

Danny Boyle had committed a house and education for Rubina Ali and Azharuddin, the actors of his film Slumdog Millionaire. While Azhar who still had a house in Garib Nagar, he has moved to his new house in Santacruz. Rubina's father Rafique wanted a house in Bandra because of his business still lives in Garib Nagar. But Niraja Mattoo of Plan India, the NGO which is funding their education and home said, " Rubina also has got a house in Bandra West and will be moving there by next month.''

But Rubina and Azhar are not the only kids from Garib Nagar who work in films and television. Child arist coodinatior: Parvez Shaikh who cannot stop crying for his lost house and property that he collected for over 20 years living in the same area said, " I have given jobs to 25 to 30 kids from this area in films and television serials. I saved my family but all belongings of my children and wife were burnt in the fire. Mera Sabkuch Khatam ho gaya madam.'' He screamed and added, " Priya Dutt and Baba Siddiqui come here and tell us that we are encroachers of railway land. It is really shameful that the same lady's father Sunil Dutt had slept in front of the bulldozer and stopped Garib Nagar from being demolished.''

Three other teenage children from Garib Nagar, Salman, Jafar, Almas and Fayyaz have played main roles in Irfan Kamal's film Thanks Maa. The director said, "I am in touch with the families of the kids from my film and will definitely working out something for them.''

Director Danny Boyle and his Jai Ho Trust has been working with the slum children of Garib Nagar for over two years now. Niraja Mattoo, trustee of the Jai Ho told TOI, " We informed Danny about the fire and said he was very concerned about all the children of the area.''

Danny took the responsibility of the wellbeing of the children of Garib Nagar because of the Slumdog Millionaire actors. Mattoo said, " Danny felt it was also his moral responsibility to take care of other kids of the area. Our trust has tied up with Plan India an NGO which is doing the ground work for the kids of the area.''

Danny Boyle's next film on Suketu Mehta's book?

After the success of multi-Oscar winning film "Slumdog Millionaire", British director Danny Boyle is planning to shoot another movie in Mumbai. The fillmaker has acquired the rights to develop a film on Suketu Mehta's "Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found", reported contactmusic.com. Boyle was recently in India and had confirmed that he would return next year to make another film on Mumbai.

'Slumdog' child star Rubina Ali to publish a memoir

Rubina Ali, who played the youngest Latika in Slumdog Millionaire, will be publishing a book about her life, according to the AP. Called Slumgirl Dreaming: My Journey to the Stars, the book will be published on July 16th by Transworld Publishers and Random House Children's Books. It will tell the story of the 9-year-old's life in the Mumbai slum in which she has spent her life and her trip to the Oscars this year. In a statement, the publisher said: "Now she tells her own incredible story, from playing marbles with her friends beside the sewers of Garib Nagar in Mumbai, to dancing along to the Bollywood films she and her family watch on their old television set." All royalties will go to Ali and the French medical-aid charity, Médecins du Monde.

Jai Ho for India at the Oscars

From the slums of Mumbai to the glamorous world of Los Angeles, the world went "Jai Ho" as India's sound magicians A. R. Rahman and Resul Pokutty made history along with lyricist Gulzar and bagged three Oscars for "Slumdog Millionaire" that won eight of its 10 nominations in a ceremony that had India written all over.

It was India's day at the Oscars, one of the year's most watched events on world television, with Indian music, Indian dance and Indian colours sweeping the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

India dominated the mind as British director Danny Boyle's hit film won the big ticket Oscars for best picture and best director at the 81st annual Academy Awards but also for six others, including two for Rahman, who won for best original score and best original song for the exuberant "Jai Ho" with Gulzar.

While Pookutty shared the award with two others for best sound mixing, the film also won best adapted screenplay, best cinematography and best editing awards.

The only award it did not bag was for sound editing, which went to "The Dark Knight".

It was an India moment for everyone to savour, and celebrations broke out across the country.

President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a host of others echoed the mood as they congratulated the Oscar winners saying they had made India proud.

As the film, based on a book by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup and made on a budget of only $13 million, reached the pinnacle of its success Sunday night, it was also a fairytale end to an awards story that some say is as improbable as the film itself about an orphan from a Mumbai slum who goes on to win India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" game show.

Rahman, the fourth Indian to win the golden statuette after Bhanu Athaiya for costume designing in 1982, Satyajit Ray for lifetime achievement in 1992 and Pookutty, who picked up his award before him, also became the first Indian to perform at the glittering ceremony watched worldwide by millions.

Indian drums resounded through the vast Kodak Theatre and dancers picked up on the beat as Rahman sang "O Saya" and "Jai Ho" - his two songs shortlisted for the best original song award notwithstanding the fact that the words were in Hindi.

"God is great!" Rahman exclaimed in Tamil as he picked up the awards, saying he was as excited and terrified before coming here as he was at his marriage.

"It is not an award, but history being handed over to me, " said Pookutty, who shared the Oscar with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke, and dedicated his award to his country.

"I simply feel elated. I can't put my feelings into words! It is the highest recognition any film technician can ever achieve. To be the first from India to be recognised by my peers in the Academy in its 80-year history is a very, very fulfilling feeling, " Pookutty told.

Added Gulzar from Mumbai: "I never thought in the wildest of my dreams that Indian lyrics can ever win an Oscar. Indians never had a place (in the West) and the credit for this recognition goes to Rahman. "

But the 81st Academy Awards was not just about "Slumdog Millionaire".

The India-themed "Smile Pinki" by American Megan Mylan, about a poor village girl whose cleft lip made her a social outcast till her life changed after a meeting with a social worker, picked up an Oscar for best short documentary.

The evening climaxed with much of the cast and crew up with producer Christian Colson as he accepted the best picture award.

"As you can see, our film was a collaboration between hundreds of people, and I am so happy that so many of them could be with us here tonight to share this moment. Together we've been on an extraordinary, extraordinary journey.

When we started out, we had no stars, we had no power or muscle. We didn't have enough money really to do what we wanted to do. But what we had was a script that has inspired mad love in everyone who read it, " said Colson.

Also up on stage were 10-year-old Azharuddin and nine-year-old Rubina, who played key roles in the movie and travelled from their homes in a Mumbai slum to the star-studded event.

And back home in the Garib Nagar slum, Azharuddin's father said, his eyes welling up with tears: "Flowers have bloomed from the dirty gutters of Mumbai. "

Rahman's sister Reihana said from Chennai: "Once he returns, Rahman and I and the rest of the family will go on thanksgiving pilgrimages to several dargahs (Muslim shrines) to express our gratitude to god for blessing us so mercifully and in such magnitude. We hope this means more Hollywood offers for Rahman after this. "

In Pookutty's home in Vilakupara village of Kerala, the mood was celebratory -- and tearful too - as people crowded around a TV set in front of his house.

In Uttar Pradesh, too, little Pinki was the toast of her village Rampur Dabai.

"It's an honour for all of us that a poor girl has put this village on the international map, " village head Pradeep Vishwakarma told on telephone.

It was a day that will live on, a day when the world went "Jai Ho!

Sukhwinder misses Oscar ceremony, but very happy for Rahman

He was to have performed with music maestro A. R. Rahman at the 81st Annual Academy Awards but could not due to some snag. But "Jai ho" singer Sukhwinder Singh is extremely happy at Rahman's twin wins at the Oscars. Reports earlier said that both Sukhwinder and Rahman were to perform the "Slumdog Millionaire" song live at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles. However, it was only Rahman who finally took centrestage. Sukhwinder told a national daily that he couldn't go as his papers were not processed in time for him to catch the flight to Los Angeles. But he said he is delighted for Rahman and that he always wanted an international honour for the ace composer, who brought him to the limelight with the "Chhaiyan Chhaiyan" number in "Dil Se". "One thing that I was missing since seven-eight years was an international award for Rahman, because I knew he truly deserved it. But today it has happened and I'm very happy about it, " Sukhwinder told reporters here. Rahman became the first Indian to bag two Oscars, including one for best original score and the other for best original song ("Jai ho"), which he also shared with lyricist Gulzar. Sukhwinder says he was confident that "Jai ho" would go places. "I knew 'Jai ho' will definitely go places because it's a song full of fun, " said Sukhwinder. The versatile singer with a rustic voice said that he enjoyed the song so much that while he was recording it with Rahman, he insisted on singing it multiple times. "When we were sitting in the studio and recording, I sang the song once, but told Rahman that I'm not convinced and sang it again. " "Then I sang it for the third time on the same pretext. Suddenly, Gulzar stopped me. He told me that the song is full of naughtiness and I am naughty too. He was right! I was really enjoying the song and that's why I wanted to sing it again and again, " he added. So did he expect the song to win an Oscar? "When Rahman and I work, we only concentrate on the poetry and nothing else, " said the singer, adding that he had completed the recording of the song in half an hour.

Slumdog kids have a whale of a time

he six kids who played the youngest and middle versions of the main characters in Oscar-smash hit "Slumdog Millionaire" are loving it as they have a whale of a time in Los Angeles.

Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali from the slums of Mumbai as also Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Tanay Chheda, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala and Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar were flown to the US for Hollywood's biggest awards night by Fox Searchlight.

By all accounts, they have been having the time of their lives. For some, it was not only their first trip out of the country, but also their first time on an airplane.

Once in LA, the children were put up in a plush hotel, where they were issued standard awards-night gear: tuxes, dresses and shoes, all made to measure.

The plan is to stay in the US for two days of sightseeing after the ceremony, with a visit to Disneyland to follow a trip that has already been made to Hollywood's Universal Studios.

There was Rubina Ali, 9, beaming proudly from a huddle with her "Slumdog Millionaire" co-stars on the world's most glamorous stage, as they walked the red carpet before the show Sunday.

Rubina wore a pale blue short dress and white ballet flats, with henna decorating her arms and staining her fingernails. The boys wore child-size tuxedos and Lonkar wore a pale mauve dress.

The smiling kids bubbled with enthusiasm, and the crowd reflected it all back, with bleacher fans cheering them and veteran actors noting their presence.

"It's fantastic. It's beyond our dreams, " said Tanay Chheda, who played the "middle" age protagonist Jamal, as he glanced around at the gaggle of famous faces jamming the long red carpet.

The group chattered happily away to reporters sticking microphones and cameras in their smiling faces. Asked by one to show off their dance moves, they eagerly complied, with Tanay Chheda proclaiming: "All Indians can dance. "

They frequently talked over each other, but all agreed they want to be in more movies. Lonkar admitted she hoped to meet Tom Cruise and tell him: "Hi, I'm your biggest fan. "

It may well be difficult to readjust to life at home once their American sojourn is over. But then again, the sights and sounds the 'Slumdog' children are currently experiencing will probably be happy memories for a lifetime.

I never thought Hindi lyrics could win an Oscar: Gulzar

oted lyricist Gulzar, who shared the Oscar for his song "Jai ho" in "Slumdog Millionaire" with A. R. Rahman, has confessed that he never thought Hindi lyrics could win the golden statuette. "I never thought in the wildest of my dreams that Hindi lyrics can ever win an Oscar. Indian songs never had a place there (in the West) and the credit for this recognition goes to Rahman, " Gulzar told a news channel. The lyricist was gaga over composer A. R. Rahman. He said: "What a team to work with. You see the spirit of a film in his music. It's a pleasure to work with that man. He is an amazing innovator - the way he innovates the sounds is just amazing. " "He is the one who broke the cliched methods of music compositions in the country and his innovativeness is the reason he has reached the Oscars. I am really proud of him, " Gulzar added.

Slumdog's Oscar victory sends a message to the world

Before "Slumdog Millionaire's" amazing Oscar win pundits were wondering whether art might imitate life. On Sunday night, on the crystal-swathed stage of the Kodak Theatre, and in front of the world's biggest celebrities and a huge global audience, the cliche came true, and then some.

The Mumbai-based movie about the unlikely rise of an inconsequential Indian pauper to win India's most popular game show, won an even more remarkable victory when it swept eight Oscars, including the most coveted one of all for Best Picture of the year.

To put that achievement in perspective, the $14-million movie almost didn't get shown in the US, when its original distributor pulled out of the indie film market after deciding that there was no real chance for a film that was half in Hindi to succeed in the US.

That decision surely ranks alongside that of the producer who passed on the Beatles for failing to recognise how one piece of art can be so profound as to change the entire context which surrounds it.

"Slumdog... " did what all great art aspires to: it communicated across boundaries of culture, geography, economy and language. It shone a light into the heart of characters from Mumbai, but in so doing it taught everyone who saw it - from Mumbai to Milan, from Bangkok to Brazil, and from Lagos to Los Angeles, something about themselves and their immediate world.

Penelope Cruz, who won the supporting actress award for portraying a mentally unstable Spanish woman in "Vicky Christina Barcelona", best explained the magic that lay behind "Slumdog's" success.

"I always felt that this ceremony was a moment of unity for the world, " said Cruz, "because art in any form has been will be and will always be our universal language. "

The movie has already earned close to $160 million at the global box office, and the Oscar win will surely boost its earning significantly.

That could profoundly change the way films are made and distributed, giving filmmakers and the investors who back them more courage to pursue vibrant, global movies that celebrate cultures and characters that go beyond the usual Hollywood star system.

By choosing "Slumdog" as the year's best movie, the power players of the US film industry also sent a strong message around the world, one that echoed the political approach of the country's new underdog president. No more American hegemony, but new collaboration and respect for the other peoples of the world and their traditions, creativity and culture.

The uniqueness and unmatched energy of "Slumdog's" approach was clear even on the Oscar red carpet. As the regular phalanx of stars strutted the carpet in their glamorous designer togs, the cast and crew of "Slumdog" looked like a big happy family on an annual outing - albeit somewhat incongruously dressed in tuxedos and gowns.

The contrast between the glitz of Hollywood and the grit of Mumbai was striking, but it was also part of the message.

"Together we have been on an extraordinary journey, " said producer Christian Colson as he was surrounded on stage by dozens of the cast and crew. "When we started out we had no stars or muscle, we didn't have enough money to do what we wanted to do. We had passion and we had belief and our film shows if you have those two things truly anything is possible. "

As though to prove the point, the world's biggest movie stars howled their approval, and gave him a standing ovation.

Sonia Gandhi congratulates Rahman, Resul

Congress president Sonia Gandhi Monday congratulated A. R. Rahman and Resul Pookutty for winning the Oscars for music and sound mixing.

"I am delighted that A. R. Rahman and Resul Pookutty have won this year's much coveted Oscars for music and sound editing. I congratulate them, " Gandhi said in her message.

She said all the actors, technicians and support staff who had worked in the movie had made India proud.

While Rahman won two Oscars for best original score and best song, Pookutty won an Oscar for best sound mixing. The two made history with with "Slumdog Millionaire", the rags to riches story of a boy from the slums of Mumbai, sweeping the annual Academy Awards with eight Oscars.

India's Oscar triumph will draw global attention to our cinema

Well-known lyricist Javed Akhtar says that he is not surprised by fellow writer Gulzar, technician Resul Pookutty and Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman's win at the Oscars. He says their success will bring global attention to Indian cinema. "I'm not surprised by A.R. Rahman, Gulzar and Resul Pookutty bagging the honour. In fact, I quite expected Gulzar saab to win the Oscar and like all Indians, feel immensely proud and happy with their unprecedented achievement," Javed Akhtar told. Rahman bagged two golden statuettes - one for his original score in "Slumdog Millionaire" and the other for the original song "Jai ho" which he shared with lyricist Gulzar. Pookutty bagged the Oscar for sound mixing in British director Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches drama that swept eight of the Oscars at the 81st Academy Awards Sunday. "Rahman is an acknowledged international talent and the Oscar will draw the world's attention to his music and Indian movies as a whole," Javed Akhtar said. Talking about Pookutty, the veteran said: "Resul Pookutty's bagging the award symbolises that even technically India is at par with the rest of the world. "Now that international awards have started coming to India, I am confident it will bring international show business also to India in a big way."

A.R. Rahman joins another Legend in perfect harmony

Six-time Grammy award-winning artist John Legend joined double Oscar winning Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman to present a picture of perfect harmony on stage as Mumbai-set "Slumdog Millionaire" swept the Oscars.

Both performers were joined in a multi-star cast of performers playing in a medley of three Oscar-nominee songs - "Jai Ho" and "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire", and "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" - at the annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Kodak Theatre here Sunday night.

The two artists got a chance to meet for the first time backstage and spent quite a bit of time discussing music and future projects.

"It's great to see AR get the global recognition he deserves for not only 'Slumdog', but his body of work. A lot of people don't know this, but AR's music has been consumed by more people than almost any artist out there," stated Legend.

"I look forward to future opportunities like tonight."

The Oscars presented a moment of serendipity for Legend, whose performance on stage for WALL-E ended with a joint duet with AR fusing all nominee performances together at the finale.

Rahman`s sister thanks Allah, nation`s prayers for Oscar win

Indian musical genius A.R. Rahman's sister Reihana couldn't stop thanking God and the prayers of millions of Indians Monday for her brother's double win at the Oscars for his work in much acclaimed film "Slumdog Millionaire".

"It is God's blessing and all the accolades to Him (God)," Reihana said as she watched her brother stride towards the Kodak stage in Los Angeles to receive his second Oscar for Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches story.

"We are elated. Rahman has won, thanks to the whole nation's prayers," Reihana, a well-known Tamil music composer and singer, told.

She had not yet called up her brother to congratulate him, but said she would speak to him soon.

"I don't want to disturb him in the middle of his glory at the function, right now. When he gets back, we will express our delirious happiness and much more We are speechless," said the ecstatic sister.

Reihana had predicted two Oscars for Rahman during a chat with Sunday.

Rahman picked up the awards for his best original score as also the best original song "Jai ho" from the film with lyrics by Gulzar and Sukhwinder Singh as the lead singer.

Asked if she had any special gift in mind for her brother, Reihana said: "I haven't planned one as yet. But I think Rahman should give me a gift since I prayed so hard for him to win!"

She once again stressed that it was God's blessings that had made Rahman triumph at the Academy Awards.

"Once he returns, Rahman and I and the rest of the family will go on thanksgiving pilgrimages to several dargahs (Muslim shrines) to express our gratitude to God for blessing us so mercifully and in such magnitude," Reihana said.

"We hope this means more Hollywood offers for Rahman after this," the proud sister added.

Accolades for the music maestro poured in from his colleagues from the film industry here.

Tanvi Shah, who sang part of the Oscar winning number "Jai Ho", jumped with joy and said that Rahman had won the Oscars for the whole nation.

"I'm just so thankful to God for this. Rahman deserves every bit of this. This award is for India," said Tanvi, who watched the entire Oscar ceremony with her family.

"I was crying throughout the ceremony and praying really hard for him to win. The one person our team is missing the most is sound engineer H. Sreedhar, the sound engineer who created the final copy. Sadly, he passed away recently," she added.

Madhumita, who sang "Liquid Dance" and "Millionaire" in the movie, is also elated.

"Jai Ho Rahman sir! You have done our country proud. I feel so blessed right now to be a part of 'Slumdog Millionaire' and am on cloud nine," she said.

Rahman`s media-shy wife walks the red carpet with him

Oscar-winning music maestro A. R. Rahman's media-shy better half Saira Banu walked the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre here for the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

Clad in a black kurta-churidar by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the demure wife of the maestro has by choice always maintained her distance from the limeligh till date. She was not a much known face among the Indians, let alone on the global platform before appearing at the awards.

Saira Banu was all over the TV screens worldwide when she walked the red carpet clinging to her husband's right arm throughout the ceremony.

Not much of a speaking lot, both husband and wife have had perhaps the maximum number of public appearances courtesy the worldwide success of Danny Boyle's Mumbai-based rags-to-rajah story "Slumdog Millionaire".

Rahman won two golden statuettes - for best original song "Jai ho" and best original score for the film.

81st Oscars Academy Awards underway

LOS ANGELES: The final countdown to the 81st Academy Awards were underway here Saturday, with feel-good movie "Slumdog Millionaire" poised to romp home with the coveted best picture Oscar.

Less than 48 hours before the entertainment industry's most glamorous night of the year, workers were putting the finishing touches to their preparations at the Kodak Theater in the heart of Hollywood.

The build-up to this year's ceremony has been dominated by India-set rags-to-riches fable "Slumdog", which has dominated other awards shows and is considered the overwhelming favorite for the best picture statuette.

Although period drama "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" will start the night with the most nominations, 13, compared to 10 for "Slumdog," experts say that British director Danny Boyle's film looks unstoppable.

Pundits say "Slumdog" has delighted audiences with its rags-to-riches plot about a Mumbai tea boy who rises out of poverty and enters a television quiz show to win millions and be reunited with the love of his life.

The against-the-odds triumph of the film's central character is mirrored by the movie's improbable march towards Oscars glory. Made for only 15 million dollars, the film features a cast of unknown actors and is partially subtitled.

Other rivals in the best picture category are "Benjamin Button," political drama "Frost/Nixon," biopic "Milk" and Holocaust drama "The Reader."

Sean Penn, who plays a trailblazing gay politician in "Milk", and Kate Winslet, who plays a Nazi death camp guard in "The Reader" are the front-runners in the best actor and actress categories.

However Penn faces stiff competition from Mickey Rourke, who won last month's Golden Globes for playing a washed up prizefighter in "The Wrestler."

Winslet's hopes of a first Academy Award after missing out on five previous occasions are threatened by two-time Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, with Melissa Leo ("Frozen River") tipped as a dark horse.

In the supporting categories, late Australian actor Heath Ledger is poised to become only the second performer in history to win a posthumous Oscar, a year after his death from a drug overdose in New York.

In the supporting actress category, Penelope Cruz is favorite the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar for her performance in Woody Allen comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

The other element of surprise around Sunday's show is the new-look format being promised by organizers as they seek to bounce back from 2008 television viewing figures that were the worst in Oscars history.

A R Rahman bags BAFTA for Slumdog Millionaire

British filmmaker Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire", Mumbai-based rags-to-riches movie, has won top honours at Britain's most prestigious film awards with a sweeping seven wins, including best film. 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."Slumdog Millionaire" also won the best director award for Danny Boyle, racing ahead of Clint Eastwood for "Changeling", David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon" and Stephen Daldry for "The Reader".The film also won awards for adapted screenplay, music (Indian composer A.R. Rahman), editing, cinematography and sound, as it continued its improbable march to the Academy Awards later this month. "David Lean said you should announce your ambition for the film in the first five minutes," Boyle said. "In that spirit, I'd like to announce my ambition for this speech - my father's power went out last night. A big shout-out to everyone who helped him run the extension cable in so he could watch this." "Slumdog Millionaire" is considered the front runner for the Oscars with 10 nominations and has already dominated the Golden Globes, while also picking up prizes from the Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America.The best actress award went to Kate Winslet for her role in "The Reader". Winslet, who was also nominated in the same category for "Revolutionary Road", said: "To get this award at home means a lot to me." It's her second BAFTA, the first in 1995 for her supporting role in "Sense and Sensibility".Mickey Rourke won the best actor prize for his portrayal of a comeback fighter in "The Wrestler" and thanked director Darren Aronofsky for giving him a second chance. "Such a pleasure to be here and be out of the darkness," he said.Penelope Cruz took home the best supporting actress prize for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", while the supporting actor award went posthumously to Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight".The "Curious Case of Benjamin Button", the Brad Pitt-starrer about a man who ages backwards, was nominated for 11, but won just three awards - for production design, special effects and hair and make-up. "I've Loved You So Long" (France) won the top prize for best foreign film.The ceremony of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, held weeks before the Academy Awards in Los Angeles, is one of the highlights of the year's awards season.

India is so exciting: British scriptwriter of 'Slumdog Millionaire'

Mumbai, (IANS) British writer Simon Beaufoy, who spent considerable time here to pen the script of "Slumdog Millionaire", says the experience has changed his life.
"It was incredibly rewarding for me. I've been writing for 12 years. I've been brought up on a British tradition of screenwriting. In India, I found that to be a completely inappropriate way of writing. Now after writing 'Slumdog Millionaire', I can't go back to writing the way I used to," Beaufoy told IANS.Set in Mumbai, the film based on Indian bureaucrat-author Vikas Swaroop's novel "Q & A" revolves around a slum kid who wins a jackpot on television quiz show "Kaun Banega Crorepati". The movie, directed by Danny Boyle, has wowed audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival.Beaufoy says he'd love to return to Mumbai for screenwriting."I'd love to do 'Slumdog Billionaire and Trillionaire'. India is such an exciting place. I had first visited when I was 18. Now it's become such a different place. The British legacy has been erased and replaced by this extraordinary desire to be the No.1 country in the world. You cannot but respond to India's drive and energy. Those are the qualities that people in Toronto at the festival noticed in our film."Though Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" is a screen adaptation of Swaroop's novel "Q & A", Beaufoy says he had completely rewritten the original story."I took the initial concept of a slum kid who wins all the money and gets arrested from the novel. But the book is like a series of independent short stories. That didn't work for 'Slumdog Millionaire'. So I went to Mumbai to look for new experience and to invent a backbone for the film. I turned the film into a love story. So I invented Latika, Frieda Pinto's character, as the spine of the story. Latika doesn't even exist in the book," Beaufoy said.Beaufoy, whose earlier credits include "Full Monty", says he had to completely re-acclimatise himself to write this Mumbai-based film."We were very, very careful not to portray Mumbai's people as victims. When I went around the streets of Mumbai researching stories and characters to put into the film, the local people would often come forward to help us out on location to beat the heat with glasses of water, tea and kind words. They saw me as this wildly-sweating white man running around frantically on the streets and felt rather sorry for me."

Oscar Eye: Predicting Best Picture, Sorta

I've Loved You So Long, the French movie that is pretty much guaranteed to get Kristin Scott Thomas a second Best Actress Oscar nomination. That screening got out at 8, and of course at 9 I had to watch Grandpa McCrankypants and the Hope Monger square off, so there went the rest of my evening. (I promise that's the last time I'll reference real politics rather than Oscar politics in this column. Seriously!)So before I get into today's main topic-- Best Picture! And a little bit of The Dark Knight!-- I want to talk about Thomas, who gives an honest-to-God amazing performance in I've Loved You So Long, one of my favorite movies I've seen in ages. Thomas, English by birth but speaking French here, plays a woman sent to jail for murdering her 6-year-old son, though the exact circumstances of the boy's death aren't clear until the final scene of the film. After 15 years in jail she movies in with her younger sister, who was only a teenager when she left and knows her sister mostly as a mysterious stranger. As the two get to know each other, and Thomas's character Juliette comes to relearn the outside world, the movie encompasses so many aspects from humanity, from new romance to the joy of children. The movie itself is a gem, and Thomas anchors it; she'll be everywhere as Oscar season progresses, and hopefully audiences will overcome the language barrier to catch her great performance.OK, on to the big one, Best Picture, which has seen a lot of shakeups in the last few weeks despite most major contenders still being a month away from release. First, there was the whole debacle between Scott Rudin and Harvey Weinstein over The Reader, the World War II drama starring Kate Winslet and directed by Stephen Daldry (The Hours, Billy Elliott). You can read details about the mess here, but basically Rudin, the producer, and Weinstein, representing the distributor, bickered over when the movie should be released; Weinstein, gunning for a December '08 release, won, and now Rudin has abandoned the project entirely. This results in terrible buzz for a movie that isn't even finished yet, and tarnishes the Oscar project of a movie that already has competition from its own lead actress, who also stars in Revolutionary Road this December.Then there's The Road, which has been hit with rumors of a delay today at Entertainment Weekly. The movie is considered a hard sell given its post-apocalyptic themes, but it's based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, who also wrote the familiar title No Country for Old Men. Viggo Mortensen may also be competing against himself, given his starring role in the Holocaust drama Good, but The Road has been considered a major contender for months now. Delaying this movie until 2009 would mean yet another major shift in the landscape.

As for the movies already in release, the sole major contender is still The Dark Knight, which has fallen off the public radar ever since it stopped earning over $1 million in a weekend (to be fair, that only happened two weeks ago, in its 11th week of release). In Contention recently raised the possibility that Heath Ledger could compete as Best Actor as opposed to Best Supporting Actor, which is the kind of rumor that can only take flight before studios have started their big For Your Consideration campaigns. It's unlikely to stick, but rumors like that stoke the fires for The Dark Knight's campaign, which, weirdly enough, could get drowned out by the madness of Oscar season, even though it's the biggest movie of the year. Funny how these things work. When Oscar predictions start getting serious, and the period for nominations kicks off at the end of the year, The Dark Knight will become a hot topic once more; in the meantime it's up to those who are in the tank for the movie to keep the home fires burning. For the record, I'm 100% behind a Best Picture nod for The Dark Knight-- even though you all crucified me for giving it a measly 4.5 out of 5 stars for my review.So after a month and a half of the fall movie season, it's been more about movies that have fallen out of contention than those that have gained momentum. Body of Lies tanked at the box office, and went it went all hopes of Oscar. Che got poor festival reception, and Changeling's was mediocre, so it'll be an uphill climb for both of those lead performance-driven movies. W. has gotten so-so reviews, except for some raves for Josh Brolin's performance, and Secret Life of Bees is gaining no traction for its strong female leads. Does anyone remember that Duchess and Appaloosa were released earlier this fall? You'd think given that we're all holding our breath for the big releases in November and December, we'd find something to cling to in the meantime; instead everyone keeps repeating "Milk, Revolutionary Road, Doubt, etc." to themselves and counting the days until those movies finally come out.By the time of next week's column, I'll have seen Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle's movie that's favored by some to make it in for Best Picture, and....wait for it... Quantum of Solace. I won't be allowed to write about it, but I promise to drop lots of maddening hints. In the meantime, I invite you to check out the chart at Gurus of Gold, which aggregates Oscar predictions from all kinds of smart people, and is willing to go into the kind of speculation I don't bother with. I mean take a look at their top five Best Picture predictions... four of the five are movies practically no one has seen, and the fifth is Slumdog Millionaire, which premiered at Toronto. It's going to be amazing to see how much this stuff change once these movies actually see the light of day.Also check out the updated chart below, which includes a second chart for movies already in release. Look how organized we're getting! See you all next week.