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OSCARS: 10 nominations for "Slumdog Millionaire"

2009 Oscar nominations for "Slumdog Millionaire." From Oscars.org:

• Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire (competing with Frost/Nixon; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Reader and Milk)
• Best Director: Danny Boyle
• Adapted screenplay: Simon Beaufoy
• Original score: A.R. Rahman
• Original song: "Jai Ho" - A.R. Rahman
• Original song: "O Saya" - A.R. Rahman and MIA (only three nominations in this category. "Down to Earth" from "Wall-E" was the third)
• Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
• Film editing: Chris Dickens
• Sound editing: Tom Sayers
• Sound mixing: Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty

Oscars announced on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009, 8 pm ET; 5 pm Hollywood time; 6:30 am Monday Bollywood time.

Instant analysis by Aseem Chhabra, SAJA board member and arts writer, filed 10 minutes after the nominations were announced.:

The 10 nominations for Slumdog Millionaire is awesome news, especially for India.  Three of the nominations are for Indian musicians -- AR Rahman for his original score and two songs composed by him O Saya (he also sang this song along with MIA) and Jai Ho! (Sukhwinder Singh
is the lead singer here).  Along with this the film also was nominated in the sound editing and sound mixing categories.

What makes the nominations even more significant is that the film was not recognized in any of the acting categories (I was really hoping Dev Patel would have received a nod along with Heath Ledger).  This is a little film with no recognizable actors (at least for Hollywood) and yet the Academy chose to give the film 10 nods, including the major categories -- best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best editing and best score.

We have noted on SAJAforum that "Slumdog" is the best reviewed South Asia-themed movie since "Gandhi" in 1982. That year, "Gandhi" was nominated for 11 and won eight.

I bet they are celebrating in a big way in Mumbai!

Feel free to quote from Chhabra's post - citing SAJAforum. If you'd like him to comment for you: chhabs[at]aol.com (subject line = Slumdog interview)

The movie opens in India this Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. See coverage below.

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.

FILM: Q&A with Danny Boyle, director of "Slumdog Millionaire"

See our extensive coverage of Danny Boyle, instant-classic, "Slumdog Millionaire," including a review roundup and clips.

Here is a special Q&A (a semi-intentional pun on the name of the novel that the movie is based on: Vikas Swarup's Q&A) by SAJAer and entertainment writer Aseem Chhabra.

British filmmaker Danny Boyle is well known for his cult classics "Trainspotting," "28 Days" and "Shallow Grave." Boyle’s latest film "Slumdog Millionaire" is a thoroughly entertaining and uplifting story of a young Indian teenager from the slums of Mumbai who wins the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" show so as to connect with the girl of his dream.  The film stars two first time actors – Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, with two of Bollywood’s finest actors – Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan in supporting roles.

"Slumdog Millionaire" was a huge hit at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals.  It won the People’s Choice Award at Toronto.  And since then there has been a lot of buzz about the film’s Oscar chances.

Boyle is a self-described Bollywood aficionado.  He can discuss in details differences between the original "Don" (1978 with Amitabh Bachchan) and the recent "Don" (2006 with Shahrukh Khan).  He is a fan of the first film.

Aseem Chhabra had a chance to talk to Boyle about Slumdog Millionaire and making the film in India.

Aseem Chhabra – This film has come out of nowhere and now everyone is talking about it.  It was not supposed to open this year and now there is an Oscar buzz.  Do you believe in luck?

Daniel Boyle -- On the one level nothing has surprised me about this film, since I went to India.  And I learnt something about destiny, fate and the way things work.  I kind of never believed in these things, but people there believe very, very deeply, in a way that is quite meaningful.