*Jai ho Rahman, says Irrfan Khan* Jeevan Prakash Sharma, NDTVMovies.com Monday, January 12, 2009 (New Delhi)
*Jai ho Rahman* (Praise be to Rahman) was the first thing actor Irrfan Khan could think of when he spoke about *Slumdog Millionaire's* sweeping act at the Golden Globes. He gives full credit to the music director and says, "I am extremely happy for Rahman. He deserves it. I have all the good wishes for him. Only time will tell how talented he is and how many such awards are in store for him. Today, when I think of Rahman what comes out naturally for this extremely talented young music director is, *Jai ho Rahman*. It sounds coincidental as *Jai ho* is also the the song which won the award for him." Talking about his own role in the film Irrfan says that he didn't do the film because of the length of his role but it's director Danny Boyle's brigade which always attracted him more than anything else. "I wanted to get into Danny Boyle's brigade. And that's why I became a part of the film. Though I have a very important role in the film yet it's not that which attracted me. I never ever thought that this film will get so many awards. It was just Danny Boyle who was in my mind when I signed the film and shot for it." He has a lot of praise for the human spirit which is the highlight of the film. He says, "Instead of glorifying poverty, the film has glorified the human spirit. The central theme of the film is very important. It's true that there is a market for Indian poverty but the film has much more about the human connection than anything else. When the film will release in India, people may find it a little unrealistic watching slum kids speaking English but the point is when the whole film is in English, you have to show slum kids speaking that language." When asked if the film will do anything for the Indian film industry<http://movies.ndtv.com/newstory.asp?section=Movies&id=ENTEN20090079776#>given that the director is a foreigner, Irrfan says, "It's true that an Indian talent would have been more meaningful to us, but since *Slumdog Millionaire* has a lot of Indian participation, it will bring enthusiasm in the film industry. We have a new breed of professionals raring to bring change in the industry. It's a transitional phase where our contribution has a great meaning to the films made under a western director." He adds, "I am sure that the film will get nominated for an Oscar and we are hopeful of winning awards there as well." http://movies.ndtv.com/newstory.asp?section=Movies&id=ENTEN20090079776 -- regards, Vithur
