Slumdog Millionaire gets A R Rahman 3 Oscar nominations

A R Rahman did India proud once again as he bagged a triple nomination at the 81 st Oscar Academy Awards for Slumdog Millionaire, the rags to riches saga of an Indian boy from a Mumbai slum. Rahman was nominated in the Best Original Score category and twice in the Best Original Song section.

While Rahman shares the Original Song nomination “Jai Ho” with Gulzar, for “O Saya” he shares the nomination with Maya Arulpragasam.

Slumdog Millionaire, bagged 10 nominations in all including Best Motion Picture category, Best Director – Danny Boyle and Best Adapted Screenplay – Simon Beaufoy. Other nominations include Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Film Editing.

The romantic fantasy "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" led Academy Awards contenders with 13 nominations, among them Best Motion Picture and acting honours for Brad Pitt and Taraji P. Henson, and a directing slot for David Fincher.

Other best-picture nominees are "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," and "The Reader".

As expected, Heath Ledger had a supporting-actor nomination for "The Dark Knight" on the first anniversary of his death from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. But the Batman blockbuster was shut out for other top categories such as best picture and director.

Real-life couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will both go to the Oscars as nominees. Jolie had a best actress nomination for the missing-child drama "Changeling."

The acting categories were loaded with surprises. Kate Winslet won two Golden Globes – best dramatic actress for "Revolutionary Road" and supporting actress for "The Reader"– but she was nominated for lead actress at the Oscars for "The Reader" and shut out for "Revolutionary Road."

Actors considered long shots also sneaked in, among lead-actor nominee Richard Jenkins for "The Visitor," best-actress contender Melissa Leo for "Frozen River" and supporting-actor pick Michael Shannon for "Revolutionary Road."

Winslet reunited with "Titanic" co-star Leonardo DiCaprio for "Revolutionary Road," but he also was shut out for a nomination on that film.

Other best-actress nominees were Anne Hathaway for "Rachel Getting Married" and Meryl Streep for "Doubt."

Joining Pitt and Jenkins in the best-actor category were Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"; Sean Penn, "Milk"; and Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler."

But perhaps the biggest surprise overall was the so-so results for "The Dark Knight," which had been picking up momentum as one Hollywood trade guild after another picked it as one of the year's best films.

The largest blockbuster in years, "The Dark Knight" had eight nominations, but other than Ledger's honour, it scored only in technical categories such as cinematography, visual effects and editing.