Wow this guy says AR would win both the original score as well as the song!
my confidence is up again now! --- In [email protected], Vithur <vith...@...> wrote: > > A quick phone around by *The Telegraph* indicates that A.R. Rahman, Anil > Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Freida Pinto, Dev Patel, Vikas Swarup and other members > of a strong Indian contingent are on their way to Los Angeles but will *Slumdog > Millionaire*, with 10 nominations in nine categories, actually pull it off > on Sunday? > > Or will it, like the Indian cricket team used to, choke in the final? > > Its main competitor is *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, a very curious > but technologically innovative film in which Brad Pitt is born old and grows > young and which has garnered no fewer than 13 nominations. > > *Slumdog *is, no doubt, the front runner but Pete Hammond, a senior writer > at the *Los Angeles Times* who has been chatting privately to some of the > academy members, warns against overconfidence and suggests there could be > some huge upsets on the Oscar night. > > The votes of over 5,800 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and > Sciences, who sent in their ballot papers by the deadline of 5pm on February > 17, have already sealed the fate of the winners and the losers. Indians will > be reassured to learn that the tabulations are being done by > PricewaterhouseCoopers of Satyam fame. > > Hammond, who was the first to reveal there was a plot by some jealous folk > in Bollywood aimed at ruining *Slumdog's *chances, has commented on the > curious coincidence of the first movie that was officially screened at the > White House by President Barack Obama. > > Although *Slumdog Millionaire* "appears to have this Best Picture thing all > sewn up, there was a peculiar sign that occurred last week at the White > House when, according to CNN, *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, the > Best Picture contender with a leading 13 nominations, became the first movie > officially shown there since President Obama took over three weeks ago", > Hammond pointed out in the *Los Angeles Times*. > > He added that "even with all those nominations, *Button* is a decided long > shot at this point but with Obama's special screening could that mean > another stunning comeback surprise is in store Sunday night? > > "After all a year ago Obama himself was in the position of the unthinkable > underdog and look what happened to him!" > > He also revealed the results of a personal straw poll: "Another eerie sign > came this weekend when three, count 'em, three (older) academy voters, whose > opinions I respect, all said the exact same thing to me at different times. > They weren't voting for *Slumdog Millionaire* because 'it's just not an > Oscar picture'. > > "I thought it was very strange that I would suddenly be hearing virtually > the same kind of reasoning out of the mouths of three different academy > members, but there it was. All of them, by the way, had cast their Best > Picture vote for *Button*. > > "Dare I say it? A sign?" > > Did Hammond really mean that *Slumdog* could be pipped to the post by * > Button*? *The Telegraph *asked Hammond today. > > His answer was yes and no. > > Since writing his article, "I have talked to other people and I have found a > lot of *Slumdog* votes, too", he said. > > However, Hammond, billed by the *LA Times* as "one of the film industry's > best known award season pundits", did seek to analyse whether Obama had > discreetly indicated his personal preference to academy members. > > "You can read anything you want into all of this stuff but it is interesting > he chose to show that movie," reasoned Hammond. "Maybe that means something. > He was a huge underdog a year ago and look at what happened to him and that > is what *Button* is right now. It's a big underdog so maybe there is some > kind of symmetry here." > > **Hammond continued: "*Benjamin Button* is the longest shot because Slumdog > has just swept this whole award season but in the past stranger things have > happened. I thought it was an interesting thought that Obama, this great > underdog who triumphed in the end, should choose to show that movie." > > On the anti-*Slumdog* academy voters, Hammond said: "I know there is a > faction there that is not going to vote for *Slumdog*, basically, but the > overwhelming majority of academy members probably will. I think they are > going to follow the way the season has been going. The fact that it has won > everything made them watch the DVD, made them see the movie and they seem > impressed by it, impressed enough to not want to be too different from the > rest of the award shows out there." > > On why some members were against *Slumdog*, he said: "They are older > members. They don't feel it is an 'Oscar film'. They look at this movie no > stars, partially in the Hindi language, came out of nowhere, very much the > foreign flavour. They all voted for *Benjamin Button* which does reek of > being the kind of traditional film that won the Oscar movie of the past with > the technical wizardry, in addition to the story which is like a *Forest > Gump*." > > Rahman, though, could take heart from Hammond's assessment: "The entire > academy votes on the music: they are fairly unsophisticated when it comes to > picking music scores. They like what they like musically and this one just > pops out because of the end song and all of that and it has a nice sound to > it, a different sound, an exotic sound. I think there is a kind of openness > to a lot of this now and this movie walks right into that. It wins both > music categories (Original Score and Original Song) easily."****** > > He felt that Bafta rather than the Golden Globes Slumdog won seven awards > at the former and four at the latter offered a more accurate indication of > the likely Oscar trends. > > As to whether Slumdog was viewed as British or Indian by the academy, the > reply was complicated. > > "I don't think they care," said Hammond. "It's a hybrid it has a whole > British thing going, particularly with Danny (Boyle) directing it and Simon > Beaufoy (screenplay) and it has a strong Indian feel, obviously. It has an > American thing going for it, too. Who Wants to be a Millionaire? has a > strong American identification because we have that game show here. The game > show aspects Americans easily relate to the point where ABC is considering > bringing it back on prime time because of the success of *Slumdog*." > http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090220/jsp/nation/story_10564049.jsp > > -- > regards, > Vithur >
