*Stiff competition for Rahman at the Oscars* NDTVCorrespondent Friday, February 06, 2009 1:23 PM (New Delhi)
This year's race for the Oscars for best original song and best original score is getting way more attention than usual. In part for who's in it and also for those who've been left out. Bruce Springsteen's intense song that plays over the closing credits of Darren Oronofsy's *The Wrestler* seemed like a sureshot to make it to this years list of best original song nominations after it won the Golden Globe in the same category. But to everyones surprise the Boss' song was overlooked by the academy. Instead it was India's A R Rahman who grabbed the limelight bagging three nominations. *Jai Ho* has become somewhat an anthem for anyone who has watched Danny Boyle's *Slumdog Millionaire*. The track could well win A R Rahman his first ever academy award. Rahman is also up for the best original score award for the soundtrack of *Slumdog Millionaire*. "The biggest triumph is that India is being recognised," says Rahman. *Jai ho* was actually composed for the film *Yuvraaj* but after director Subhash ghai rejected it for being too subtle, Rahman used it in *Slumdog*. The track was written by legendary composer Gulzar and sung by Sukhvinder Singh, who will be performing the hit song live along with Rahman at the academy awards. According to Sukhwinder Singh, "More than the fact that we've been nominated the most exciting thing is that we'll be performing live." Besides *Jai Ho*, *O Saya* has also got the Oscar nod. The collaboration between Rahman and hip hop sensation MIA mixes politically motivated lyrics and crunching electronic sound for a song whose global appeal clearly worked with the academy. But Rahman shouldnt be writing his oscar winning speech just yet. There maybe only one other song competing against him but that song happens to be by music legend Peter Gabriel. In the category of best musical score, Rahman has some stiff competition. Danny Elfman for the score of *Milk* is due for an Oscar having already been nominated in previous years for his work in *Big Fish, Good Will Hunting*and *Men in Black*. Thomas Newman for the music of *Wall E* has been nominated for this one too as well as Alexandre Desplat for *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* and James Newton Howard for *Defiance*. While Rahman may be up against a formidable line up, having already won a Golden Globe in the same category, we can all be quietly confident that we'll be saying *Jai Ho* to A R Rahman on Oscar night. http://music.ndtv.com/Music_Story.aspx?id=ENTEN20090082701&type=musicindia -- regards, Vithur
