- Music maestro A.R. Rahman has become the first Indian to win the prestigious Golden Globe award for best original music score as the Mumbai-based "Slumdog Millionaire" bagged four top prizes, including Best Motion Picture-Drama.
- The film also won Best Director award for British director Danny Boyle and Best Writer award for Simon Beaufoy.
- The 66th annual Golden Globe awards run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 reporters covering show business for overseas outlets, were presented at a glittering ceremony in Beverly Hills, California Sunday night.
- "Golden Globes, or the GGs as we very affectionately refer to them - your mad, pulsating affection for our film is much appreciated. Really, deeply appreciated," Boyle said.
- Sunday's award was a first Golden Globe for Boyle, who is best known for his cult 1996 movie "Trainspotting", "The Beach" and "28 Days Later".
- His latest offering won over "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button", "Frost/Nixon", "The Reader" and "Revolutionary Road".
- "We really weren't expecting to be here in America at all at one time, so it's just amazing to be here," said Beaufoy, whose winning script was adapted from Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's novel "Q & A".
- Bollywood super star Shah Rukh Khan was one of the presenters. Also present were "Slumdog" stars Anil Kapoor, Dev Patel, and Freida Pinto.
- British Indian actor Dev Patel plays the protagonist in the film telling the heartwarming story of an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who goes on to win a staggering Rs.20 million (approx $412,000) on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" game show.
- Rahman also won the Best Composer award Friday as "Slumdog Millionaire" swept the 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards winning five top prizes including Best Picture of 2008. The film also won Best Director for Boyle, Best Writer for Simon Beaufoy, and Best Young Actor/Actress for Dev Patel.
- Besides the Golden Globes, "Slumdog Millionaire" has now won nominations for the top award by all five of the US film industry's major artistic guilds - Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, and American Society of Cinematographers.
- Members of these groups represent a substantial block of the 5,810 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which will award the Oscars Feb 22.
- Meanwhile, the film took its total gross earning to over $34 million to surpass the $32.5 million gross of "Bend it Like Beckham". It has also exceeded the combined grosses of "The Namesake" ($13.6 million) and "Monsoon Wedding ($13.9 million).
- With a weekend gross of $3.7 million, down 21 percent from last weekend, it scored a per-theatre average of $6,206.
A.R.Rahman's choose for OSCAR
- Continuing his spectacular run, A R Rahman on Thursday became the first Indian to get three Oscar nominations for his score in British-Indian movie "Slumdog Millionaire", which was also was nominated for seven other categories including best film and best director.
- Rahman was nominated for Best Original Score and the numbers 'Jai Ho' and 'O Saya' were shortlisted for the Best Original Song.
- Close on the heels of the dual-language film winning four Golden Globes, including one for Rahman, earlier this month, Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy were shortlisted for best director and best adapted screenplay categories.
- The nominations were announced at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theatre by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker. The awards will be announced on February 22 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. This is the first time that an Indian has won more than one nomination in Oscar history.
- Reacting to the nominations, Rahman said: "I did not think it will get there. God has been really kind. And I have to really thank the prayers of all the people and their good wishes.
- "Something good is happening and I am really happy about it," he said, adding there is a kind of optimism in the film and so much of positive vibes as you leave the movie hall."
- Co-director Loveelyn Tandon said "We have proved everyone wrong. It's a crazy feeling beyond words. Ten nominations is something unbelievable."
- She said all Rahman's work has been awarded and the "world has finally woken up to his talent". In the original score category, Rahman will compete with Alexandre Desplat ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), James Newton Howard ("Defiance"), Danny Elfman ("Milk") and Thomas Newman ("WALL-E").
- Rahman will compete with Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman ("Down to earth" from "WALL-E") in the original song category. Gulzar has penned the lyrics of "Jai Ho" and Maya Arulpragasam "O Saya".
- The romantic periodical "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", starring Brad Pitt, topped this years Oscar race with a whopping 13 nominations.
- The films for the best picture race are "Milk", "Frost/Nixon", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "The Reader".
- Those nominated in the best director category along with Boyle are David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), Stephen Daldry ("The Reader"), Gus Van Sant ("Milk") and Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon").
- The film also won nominations in cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing and film editing.
List of 81st annual Oscar nominations 
1. Best Picture: ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' ``Frost/Nixon,'' ``Milk,'' ``The Reader,'' ``Slumdog Millionaire.''
2. Actor: Richard Jenkins, ``The Visitor''; Frank Langella, ``Frost/Nixon''; Sean Penn, ``Milk''; Brad Pitt, ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''; Mickey Rourke, ``The Wrestler.''
3. Actress: Anne Hathaway, ``Rachel Getting Married''; Angelina Jolie, ``Changeling''; Melissa Leo, ``Frozen River''; Meryl Streep, ``Doubt''; Kate Winslet, ``The Reader.''
4. Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, ``Milk''; Robert Downey Jr., ``Tropic Thunder''; Philip Seymour Hoffman, ``Doubt''; Heath Ledger, ``The Dark Knight''; Michael Shannon, ``Revolutionary Road.''
5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, ``Doubt''; Penelope Cruz, ``Vicky Cristina Barcelona''; Viola Davis, ``Doubt''; Taraji P. Henson, ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''; Marisa Tomei, ``The Wrestler.''
6. Director: David Fincher, ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''; Ron Howard, ``Frost/Nixon''; Gus Van Sant, ``Milk''; Stephen Daldry, ``The Reader''; Danny Boyle, ``Slumdog Millionaire.''
7. Foreign Film: ``The Baader Meinhof Complex,'' Germany; ``The Class,'' France; ``Departures,'' Japan; ``Revanche,'' Austria; ``Waltz With Bashir,'' Israel.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''; John Patrick Shanley, ``Doubt''; Peter Morgan, ``Frost/Nixon''; David Hare, ``The Reader''; Simon Beaufoy, ``Slumdog Millionaire.''
9. Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt, ``Frozen River''; Mike Leigh, ``Happy-Go-Lucky''; Martin McDonagh, ``In Bruges''; Dustin Lance Black, ``Milk''; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, ``WALL-E.''
10. Animated Feature Film: ``Bolt''; ``Kung Fu Panda''; ``WALL-E.''
11. Art Direction: ``Changeling,'' ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' ``The Dark Knight,'' ``The Duchess,'' ``Revolutionary Road.''
12. Cinematography: ``Changeling,'' ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' ``The Dark Knight,'' ``The Reader,'' ``Slumdog Millionaire.''
13. Sound Mixing: ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' ``The Dark Knight,'' ``Slumdog Millionaire,'' ``WALL-E,'' ``Wanted.''
14. Sound Editing: ``The Dark Knight,'' ``Iron Man,'' ``Slumdog Millionaire,'' ``WALL-E,'' ``Wanted.''
15. Original Score: ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' Alexandre Desplat; ``Defiance,'' James Newton Howard; ``Milk,'' Danny Elfman; ``Slumdog Millionaire,'' A.R. Rahman; ``WALL-E,'' Thomas Newman.
16. Original Song: ``Down to Earth'' from ``WALL-E,'' Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; ``Jai Ho'' from ``Slumdog Millionaire,'' A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; ``O Saya'' from ``Slumdog Millionaire,'' A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.
17. Costume: ``Australia,'' ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' ``The Duchess,'' ``Milk,'' ``Revolutionary Road.''
18. Documentary Feature: ``The Betrayal (Nerakhoon),'' ``Encounters at the End of the World,'' ``The Garden,'' ``Man on Wire,'' ``Trouble the Water.''
19. Documentary (short subject): ``The Conscience of Nhem En,'' ``The Final Inch,'' ``Smile Pinki,'' ``The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306.''
20. Film Editing: ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' ``The Dark Knight,'' ``Frost/Nixon,'' ``Milk,'' ``Slumdog Millionaire.''
21. Makeup: ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' ``The Dark Knight,'' ``Hellboy II: The Golden Army.''
22. Animated Short Film: ``La Maison en Petits Cubes,'' ``Lavatory _ Lovestory,'' ``Oktapodi,'' ``Presto,'' ``This Way Up.''
23. Live Action Short Film: ``Auf der Strecke (On the Line),'' ``Manon on the Asphalt,'' ``New Boy,'' ``The Pig,'' ``Spielzeugland (Toyland).''
24. Visual Effects: ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' ``The Dark Knight,'' ``Iron Man.''