FILM: Shah Rukh Khan to present at Golden Globes tonight

UPDATES: 9:20 pm - Simon Beaufoy who wrote Slumdog wins for Adapted Screenplay.
9:45 pm: A.R. Rahman wins for Original Score (his name was mispronounced twice, including once when David Duchovny tried to correct it. The right way is "Rehh-maan")
10:15 pm: Danny Boyle wins Best Director for Slumdog
10:59 pm: Slumdog Millionaire wins for Best Picture - Drama
Keep track via the live reports by Rediff.com

The Golden Globes are on tonight, and we'll be watching to see if "Slumdog Millionaire" gets any Golden Globular love, mmm. It's been nominated for four GGs, including Best Drama Picture, Best Screeplay, Best Director and Best Original Score (AR Rahman's). But the big surprise is going to be Mr. Shah Rukh Khan - King Khan - is set to present an award. More from Market Wire, via MSNBC:

HOLLYWOOD, CA - Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood's biggest film star and recently named by Newsweek as one of the 50 most powerful people in the world (the only film star on the list), has been set as a presenter at "The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards" to be telecast live on NBC Sunday, January 11 (8 - 11 p.m. EST) at The Beverly Hilton.

He joins previously announced presenters Simon Baker, Drew Barrymore, Pierce Brosnan, Sandra Bullock, Gerard Butler, Glenn Close, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sean Combs, Johnny Depp, Cameron Diaz, David Duchovny, Aaron Eckhart, Zac Efron, Laurence Fishburne, Megan Fox, Ricky Gervais, Jake Gyllenhaal, Salma Hayek, The Jonas Brothers, Jessica Lange, Blake Lively, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Lopez, Hayden Panettiere, Chris Pine, Amy Poehler, Zachary Quinto, Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, Sting and Mark Wahlberg.

According to this Golden Globe presentation schedule, SRK will be introducing the film clip of "Slumdog." Wouldn't it be totally awesome if he also played the piano onstage?? Anyone who's seen DDLJ knows that he's not only an amazing actor, a very decent human being, and a superlative husband, but a phenomenal piano player as well. And those abs in Om Shanti Om... OMG!

Here's what our filmi maven Aseem Chhabra had to say about this moment in history:

The Golden Globes are run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.  The show has similar viewership like the Oscars. But since HFPA represents foreign film journalists they often invite the type of movie stars who are popular abroad (but not necessarily in the US) -- stars like Stallone or foreign stars like Depardieu.  SRK being invited is an indication (rather late, though) that the HFPA is finally acknowledging Bollywood. The HFPA is also acknowledging that people in India -- millions of them -- look to Hollywood and watch Hollywood award shows.

SRK is the biggest Indian movie star -- no doubt about that. By the way he is already in LA, since he is working on Karan Johar's new film -- "My Name is Khan."
[see Chhabra's recent piece on A.R. Rahman in the Philly Inquirer]

More on Slumdog's chances at the LA Times:

Did the inclusion of Brad Pitt in "Babel" help it to win best picture two years ago? "Babel" seems to have a lot in common with "Slumdog Millionaire." Both are set overseas in poverty-stricken locales and include foreign dialogue. But "Slumdog"  doesn't have Western stars like "Babel." Does that matter?

I don't think so. Instead, I suspect that these outlander journalists are comfy with foreign-set films as long as the pix are popular among the Hollywood cool crowd. "Slumdog Millionaire" seems to be Oscar-bound. Usually, the Oscars and Golden Globes agree on best picture — they've done so 42 times over the past 64 years, mostly in the drama category, of course, but some in the musical/comedy genre ("Chicago," "Shakespeare in Love"). Over the past three years they disagreed. "Slumdog Millionare" strikes me as just the kind of movie that can hit both jackpots.

And according to Gitesh Pandya, Slumdog has now earned over $34 million:

"This weekend, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE surpassed the $32.5M gross of Bend it Like Beckham.  It has also exceeded the combined grosses of The Namesake ($13.6M) and Monsoon Wedding ($13.9M) as well."

BTW, leave us your thoughts about SRK, or SD's chances at the GGs...

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• Listen to webcast with A.R. Rahman, music maestro
• Listen to webcast with Vikas Swarup, whose novel "Q&A" became "Slumdog Millionaire"
• "Slumdog Millionaire" wows critics and moviegoers
• Q&A with Danny Boyle, director of "Slumdog Millionaire"