A.R. Rahman said:
"I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire, especially Danny Boyle for giving such a great opportunity. And the whole, all the people from Mumbai. The essence of the film which is about optimism and the power of hope in the lives, and all my life I had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I'm here.
God bless."

Composer AR Rahman has created history by scooping two Oscar awards for Best Original score and Best Original song for Slumdog Millionaire.he award for Best Song ‘Jai Ho’ was shared by Rahman and renowned lyricist Gulzar.

Ressul Pookutty also walked away with the golden trophy for Best Sound Mixing.

The critically acclaimed film has also won an award for the Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film editing each.

Danny Boyle has been honoured with the Best Director award for Slumdog Millionaire. Read more ...

The final Inch which is based on a man’s fight against polio which eventually turns global.

"The nomination of the Oscar is like a day dream to me,” says, actor, Mohammed Gulzar Saifi.

Gulzar Saifi, a polio victim has joined the race for Oscars. The resident of a non-descript part of Meerut, he appeared as the lead protagonist in the Oscar nominated documentary The Final Inch.

And with the nomination, Gulzar Saifi's life has changed. People are streaming into his home with garlands and gifts to congratulate him. His family is ecstatic.


the hero of "the final inch"Mohammed Gulzar Saifi

“This is very good news for us," says Gulzar’s relative.

Directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky, The Final Inch is a 38-minute documentary about India's effort in eradicating polio globally.

The film has been nominated for Best Documentary (Short Film) Feature at the 2009 Academy Awards. But more importantly, it has brought attention to the life of a small town man, whose life has so far been a struggle.... Read more ...

Smile Pinki a 39 minute short film in Hindi and Bhojpuri, directed by Emmy-nominated producer Megan Mylan has also been nominated in the 'Best Short Documentary' category.

Set in Varanasi, Smile Pinki revolves around a six-year-old girl from Mirzapur named Pinki who cannot go to school because of her cleft lips.

A simple surgery can fix her cleft lips, but instead she has to face social ostracism, until she meets Pankaj, a social worker who ensures that Pinki gets a free surgery.

Another film in the running for the 'Best Short Documentary' Oscar is The Final Inch by Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant. Once again, set in India, this documentary deals with the protagonist Muhammed Gulzar's battle with polio.

The Final Inch highlights efforts to eradicate polio in India, through his story.

Let's hope these cinematic tributes to medical and social issues in India add to the country's Oscar laurel. Read more ...

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Ustad Zakir Hussain born March 9, 1951, is a famous Grammy Award winning Indian tabla player. He is widely considered as the world's best tabla player. He has also won national as well as international awards and recognitions for his contribution to the world of music.

The Indian presence was also felt at the Grammys with tabla maestro Zakir Hussain winning in the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album Global Drum Project.

Hussain worked with Mickey Hart of the rock band Grateful Dead, Nigerian percussionist Sikiru Adepoju and Puerto Rican jazz percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo for the album.

Global Drum Project is the second collaboration between Hart and Hussain after their compilation Planet Drum which was released in 1991 and went on to win the first-ever Grammy Award in the World Music category.

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After becoming the first Indian to win the Golden Globe and getting a triple Oscar nomination in two categories for the same movie, Rahman, 43, is the first Indian musician to win the BAFTA
award.

Apart from Rahman, Resul Pookutty was the other Indian to win a BAFTA Award for Best Sound editing for Slumdog Millionaire.

Rahman's composition 'Jai Ho' for British director Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire', earned him the Critics Choice Award for Best Composer in 2008 and the Golden Globe in the category of Best Original Score.

Rahman, born in Chennai on January 6, 1966, was nominated in the Best Original Score and Best Original Song categories for two of his compositions -- 'Jai Ho' and 'O Saya' at the Oscar.

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The 16-year-old Yuki took a mere 57minutes to triumph thus becoming the first Indian to win the Australian Open junior title.
Yuki Bhambri outplayed Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas of Germany 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the Australian Open junior tennis championship in Melbourne on Saturday.


He joins Ramanathan Krishnan (Wimbledon, 1954), Ramesh Krishnan (French Open and Wimbledon, 1979) and Leander Paes (Wimbledon 1990, U.S. Open 1991) to win a junior Grand Slam singles title. Read more ...

“It obviously wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was something that had to be done. My team helped me keep positive,” said Bhupathi, after he and Sania defeated Nathalie Dechy of France and Israel’s Andy Ram 6-3, 6-1 to win their first Slam together. While this was Bhupathi’s 11th, Sania got her first. “It’s always a dream to win a Grand Slam. It makes it more special because it’s with someone that I know for so long,” said Sania
“This was my first Grand Slam final, and nerves obviously come into the picture. But I think we stepped it up after the first few games, and then suddenly we were on a roll,” she added.

The 22-year-old was playing in her first Grand Slam after surgery, and this will be a comeback to remember. In Sunday’s final, her stinging volleys left the opposition flat-footed on a few points, and her efforts were praised by her doubles partner. “I was telling Sania after the match that I’ve played with her so many times before, but the volleys today were by far the best I’ve seen her play. She’s playing after a long time, but it doesn’t surprise me at all to see how fit she is.

“Our opponents have won a Slam before, so they obviously know what they’re doing, but we came out all guns blazing from the start. I’m looking forward to playing other Slams with Sania too,” said Bhupathi.

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Allah Rakkha Rahman won a Golden Globe award on Sunday for best musical score with "Slumdog Millionaire", is one of India's most famous Bollywood composers and has sold nearly as many albums as Madonna
His scores for a host of Indian language movies have fused global influences from hip-hop and rap to Broadway musicals and Indian folk music in a way that critics believe could help Bollywood music become more global.
Rahman, 43, wrote the music for the rags-to-riches romance of a Mumbai slum boy. The film also bagged three more Golden Globe honours for best drama, best director and best screenwriter.
It is the first time an Indian has won a Golden Globe for composing in a country whose rich classical traditions have inspired oeuvres of global music. Yet, Indian film music is mostly popular only with lovers of Bollywood.
"This means so much for Indian music," said Gulzar, acclaimed filmmaker and Bollywood lyricist, who wrote one of the "Slumdog" songs.
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Allah Rakkha Rahman (born January 6, 1966 as A. S. Dileep Kumar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) is a Golden Globe and National Film Award winning film composer, record producer and musician. His work has garnered considerable acclaim and a large global fanbase since his career scoring film began in the early 1990s.
Working in several of India's various film industries, international cinema and theatre, by 2003, Rahman, in a career spanning over a decade, has sold more than 100 million records of his film scores and soundtracks worldwide,and sold over 200 million cassettes

making him one of the world's top 10 all-time top selling recording artists.
His first venture was malayalam movie "YODHA" which was before "ROJA".His Soundtrack, "Roja" turned out to be the world's 10th best soundtrack ever, as rated by Time Magazine, USA. He will compose two Mongolian songs one Japanese song for his upcoming Malayalam/Japanese Multi-Lingual movie Nairsan starring Jackie Chan & Mohanlal & also traditional songs. His acclaimed music compositions have led TIME Magazine to declare him the "Mozart of Madras" and several Tamil commentators have given him the title.
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