Slumdog beats Benjamin Button, others at BAFTA

Slumdog Millionaire won 7 awards from the 11 categories it was nominated for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards 2009, various agencies reported. BAFTA is often called the British Oscars.

In the red-carpet ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House, the Mumbai’s rags-to-riches story of an 18-year-old orphan, “Slumdog Millionaire” based on the original novel “Q&A” written by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup, carried the top trophy, beating four other contestants: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk” and “The Reader”. The televised award ceremony was beamed to 200 territories around the world.

Slumdog Millionaire won awards for Best Film, Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), Best Music (A R Rahman), Best Editing (Chris Dickens), Best Sound and Best Cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle). Apart from A R Rahman, Resul Pookutty, the Indian film sound designer and mixer who hails from Kollam, Kerala was the other Indian to win a BAFTA Award for Best Sound editing for Slumdog Millionaire.

The other winners of BAFTA are Best Actor Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Best Actress Kate Winslet (The Reader), Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Best Supporting Actress Penelope Cruz (Vicki Cristina Barcelona), and three awards (for Best Production Design, Best Make-Up & Hair and Best Visual Effects) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Best Original Screenplay for In Bruges.

“Nominated for 11 British Film Academy Awards (BAFTA), a record by itself, Slumdog Millionaire created sensation at the star-studded awards ceremony by winning seven honours”, Hindustan Times reported.

BAFTA Awards are now held before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards, generally known as Oscars. This years' BAFTA are viewed with more importance than before because this year films nominated for BAFTA are also running for Oscars, Hollywood’s most prestigious awards to be presented in Los Angeles on February 22.

Dedicated to Rasool Pookutty and A.R.Rahman

Hurray...!!! Dedicated to Rasool Pookutty and A.R.Rahman, who raised the credit of India with Oscar Awards..., originally uploaded by ArunaR.

The original author of this picture notes dedicated this to "Rasool Pookutty and A.R.Rahman, who raised the credit of India with Oscar Awards". He says, "Rasool Pookutty, a Mumbai based sound engineer ( hails from a small village called Vilakkupaara in Quilon district, Kerala) has proved his ability in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and has got the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Sound mixing for his work in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Music maestro A.R.Rahman, one of the most prolific and successful film composers in India has bagged the Oscar for Music composing..."

A R Rahman: India at the Oscars 2009

India at the Oscars 2009, originally uploaded by KaushiK™.

Slumdog Millionaire sweeps 8 Oscars

Oscars 2009: A R Rahman

India at the Oscars 2009, originally uploaded by KaushiK™.

Indian composer A R Rahman, who received two Oscars, for the Best Song and the Best Original Score, praised the city of Mumbai which inspired the book "Q&A", and subsequently the film. He praised all the people from Mumbai and the essence of the film, which is about optimism and the power of hope and our lives.

Slumdog Millionaire creates history winning 8 Oscars

India at the Oscars 2009, originally uploaded by KaushiK™.

The underdog Slumdog Millionaire, produced at a cost of only $14 million, bagged 8 Oscars out of the 10 nominations. The Slumdog won Oscars for the Best Picture (producer Christian Colson), Best Director (Danny Boyle) Best Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), Best Original Score (A R Rahman), Best Song (Jai Ho, A R Rahman), Best Sound Mixing (Resul Pookutty and his team), Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which led with 13 nominations and produced at a cost of $150 million, had three wins, for Visual Effects, Art Direction and Makeup.

Freida Pinto is not the next Bond Girl?

freida-pinto, originally uploaded by primecrime.

The mainstream press in India reported that Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto has signed up to appear in the next James Bond film opposite Daniel Craig, who plays the role of James Bond. But the website Breaking News Online reports that Pinto has denied ‘reports that she has signed a multi-million pound deal to be the next Bond Girl’. The site also reports that her ‘official spokesperson said that she has not been approached to be part of the next James Bond film’.

Freida Pinto’s films in post production stage are ‘Miral’ and the tentatively titled ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’. ‘Miral’, directed by Julian Schnabel, features Willem Dafoe, Freida Pinto and Hiam Abbass. ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’ is written and directed by Woody Allen featuring Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Freida Pinto and Naomi Watts. Both the films are tentatively scheduled for release in 2010.

She has reportedly signed up also for 'Dawn of War', a Greek mythological film, produced by Mark Canton and directed by Tarsem Singh, starring Henry Cavill opposite her. The film is tentatively scheduled for 2011.

Slumdog Millionaire bags 10 Oscar Nominations

Slumdog Millionaire, originally uploaded by AsceticMonk.

Slumdog Millionaire received TEN NOMINATIONS for the 81st Academy Awards, second only to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", that led the pack with 13 nominations.

Slumdog Mmillionaire, a Mumbai-based rags-to-riches romance, came in second in the 81st Academy Award Nominations with 10 nominations. Out of these, A R Rahman bagged three Oscar nominations. They are one for original music score and two nominations in the original song category. The songs are Jai Ho with lyricist Gulzar and O Saya with lyricist Maya Arulpragasam (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, popularly known as M.I.A.). O Saya was performed by A R Rahman and M.I.A., while Jai Ho, featured Sukhwinder Singh, Tanvi Shah and Mahalakshmi Iyer.

Meanwhile the cast and crew of the film, including the director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson, are in Mumbai where the film was made and where it was being premiered.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a time-tripping fantasy, received the most with 13 nominations. For a full list of Academy nominees visit Oscars.com