Oscar Winners 2009: The List
Kate Winslet wins Oscar for best actress and Sean Penn for best actor while Danny Boyle has picked up the coveted best director. AR Rahman wins two Oscars and Resul Pookutty gets one. Boyle's film won eight Oscars in total, beating Shakespeare in Love, the last British film to dominate the Academy Awards. “Smile Pinki”- set in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India, and a Principe Production by Megan Mylan- won an Oscar for Best documentary short. Here's the list of winners at 81st Academy Awards, 2009. Read more »
'Slumdog Millionaire' sweeps BAFTA with Rahman & Pookutty
London- It was a 'Slumdog Millionaire' night, winning BAFTA for Best Picture, Danny Boyle (best director), AR Rahman (best music), Resul Pookutty, Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke (sound), Anthony Dod Mantle (cinematography), Simon Beaufoy (Best adapted screenplay) and Chris Dickens (editing). Made with a small budget, $15 million, Julia Robert's fee for a single film, 'Slumdog Millionaire' is turning out to be the most predictable winner at all major film awards, writes Pervaiz Alam from London. Read more »
Jai Ho! Oscar nominations for Rahman and Slumdog Millionaire
LA- Thursday, Jan 22. The 81st Academy Awards nominations, hosted by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, made millions of Indians overjoyed as their 'genius' composer Rahman grabbed a nomination, alongwith two other nominations for his team. This is the first ever nomination for an Indian in this category. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button led the way with 13 nominations, including Best Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Supporting Actress (Tarajip Henson) and Best Director (David Fincher). Slumdog Millionaire gets 10 nominations. Read more »
11 BAFTAS Nominations for 2 films
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE has received 11 BAFTA nominations in the following categories: Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Music, Production Design and Sound. Danny Boyle is nominated for Director, Dev Patel for Leading Actor and Freida Pinto receives a nomination as Supporting Actress. "I keep asking myself over and over again if I am dreaming. 11 BAFTA NOMINATIONS! The British sure have a unique and beautiful way of showing us their love and appreciation," said actress Frieda Pinto of India. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" also got 11 nominations. Another favourite at the Oscars — "The Dark Knight" — managed eight BAFTA nods., writes Kathy Robinson for India-EU Film Initiative. Read the complete list of BAFTA Nominations for 2009 below. Read more »
A.R. Rahman nominated for Golden Globe
Indian composer A.R. Rahman has been nominated at the 66th Golden Globe awards in the 'Best Original Score- Motion Picture' category for his acclaimed compositions in the British movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'. The film, based on Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's novel Q&A and entirely shot in Mumbai and other parts of India with most dialogues in Hindi, has also been nominated for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay awards. But Indian entries 'Jodha Akbar' and 'Taare Zamin Par' were not considered for a nomination in the Best Foreign Film category. Read more »
India wins at 2009 Oscar ceremony as Slumdog Millionaire grabs 8 Oscars
Some may call it Slumdog Millionaire's night but actually it turned out to be a celebration of India at the 81st Oscar ceremony. The real winner is Mumbai, said film director Danny Boyle. Almost the whole cast and crew of 'Slumdog Millionaire' including its child actors from Mumbai headed for the stage as the legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg announced the Oscar for Best Picture. Earlier, Slumdog Millionaire won two Oscars for India's most popular composer, AR Rahman. Read more »
Akshay, Aamir, Advani and Accolades
Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan, after winning Indian National Award 'Padamshri' and NDTV's 'Best Entertainer of the year,' respectively, have been expressing their gratitude to the nation. And so is India's Leader of the Opposition who has been showing his admiration for Aamir's directorial debut 'Taare Zamin Par'. It's good to see politicians showing their interest in Indian cinema. Though, it's a bit ironical that it's the same Aamir Khan whose films for some time were banned by Mr. Advani's 'Taara Zamin Par'- Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat. Read more »
Oscar nominees 2009 for Foreign Language
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released their shortlist of nine foreign-language films, which will be whittled down to five Oscar nominees on January 22. Aamir Khan's directorial debut ‘Taare Zameen Par’ failed to make it to the short-list for the 81st Annual Academy Awards 2009.In 2001, Aamir's Lagaan lost out to Man's Land, directed by Danis Tanovic of Bosnia & Herzegovina. Read more »
Less films, more talent nurturing by Rahman after Golden Globe
Bollywood film producers are going to be disappointed after Rahman's Golden Global award success. Less films and more organisational work. Winning the Golden Globe for best musical score in a feature film (Slumdog Millionaire 2008) has made India's top composer likely to devote more time to find, mentor and promote young and talented musicians in India, according to sources. Rahman is in the final stage of launching his own television reality show 'Big Band' in association with India's state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan (DD). Sources tell iefilmi he chose DD for network's extensive terrestrial reach as Rahman is keen to access those as well who are not served either by cable or satellite tv. Read more »
'Gomorra'- Italian entry for Foreign Language Oscar wins top prizes at the 2008 European Film Awards
COLOGNE, Germany- The Italian crime mosaic Gomorra (Gomorrah) was the big winner at the 2008 European Film Awards (EFAs). Debuted in Cannes, where it won the Grand Prix, 'Gomorro' is Italy's nominee for the 2009 foreign-language film Oscar, competing against India's 'Taare Zamin Par' and many others. Read more »