A. R. Rahman wins Golden Globe: International journey begins

India's very own talented musician A. R. Rahman has taken a giant stride forward as he won the prestigious GOLDEN GLOBE award in the Best Original Background Score category for the film 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

It was a moment to cherish for A. R. Rahman and all his fans when the hosts at the 66th Golden Globe Awards announced his name as the winner. A moment that told the world that Indian talent was well on its way in making its presence felt globally.

The man TIME magazine called 'Mozart of Madras' shook hands with many as he went on to the stage to collect the award. The first word that came out of Rahman was 'Unbelievable' followed by a chuckle. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket as he said he had a long list although he though he wouldn't win.

Rahman thanked Almighty God for the award. His thank you list also had Danny Boyle, Fox Pictures and all his musicians in Chennai and Mumbai. Rahman thanked the billion people from India who were looking forward to his winning the award.

'Slumdog Millionaire' was about a boy born and raised in the slums of Mumbai who eventually goes on to become a millionaire thanks to his winning the 'Who wants to be a millionaire' contest. The film was directed by Danny Boyle who also won a Golden Globe for Best Director. The film won two other awards as well – Best Picture and Best Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy).

Does Rahman's winning a Golden Globe signal to the world that Indian talent would be a breath of fresh air to World Cinema? In addition to this Rahman had also won Six popular Awards for his compositions in 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

• The Broadcast Film Critics Association Award
• The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award
• The New York Film Critics Online Award
• The Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
• The San Diego Film Critics Society Award
• The Satellite Awards - International Press Academy

This honor would most definitely be cherished by India's Film Industries and the scores of Rahman fans would be ecstatically jumping for joy.

So what can Rahman look forward to?….well, it sure is going to be the Oscars next up….and then some innovative compositions that would enthrall world audiences.

A dynamic musician's international journey has begun. Indian Cinema has been made proud of by Rahman and let's hope our filmmakers can utilize this extraordinary talent properly in such a way that the world bows down to India.

Hats off A.R. Rahman….the Oscar is waiting.

Indiaglitz salutes the incredibly talented A. R. Rahman….we rejoice with you….

Click here to listen to the ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ tracks on Raaga.com

Bringing Golden Globe to your homes

Other than emerging as the frontrunner in providing the thousands of movie buffs with a huge array of fantastic movies from around the world and enabling them to get entertained and also to know the range of variety that exists in the world of film making, the movie channel UTV World Movies has made a giant leap by grabbing an impressive contract.

UTV World Movies has become the first Indian channel to get the exclusive rights to telecast the prestigious Golden Globe Awards for the next three years in the SAARC region excluding Pakistan.

This agreement starts with the live transmission of this year's 66^th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

The award ceremony will be beamed on January 12 at 6.30am. and a repeat telecast will be done at 8 p.m. on the same day.

For a channel which was launched just 10 months ago, the contract is a great achievement.

The presence of the highly acclaimed movie 'Slumdog Millionaire' which has a great connection with the Bollywood as well as with the city of Mumbai as a top contender for the coveted awards is also going to make this live transmission a widely watched programe in India.

A movie from the UTV World Movies Library titled as 'Waltz With Bashir' is also there in the fray for this year's Golden Globe Awards.

The movie's story is about two friends who while talking with each other in a bar goes back to a part of their life in which both were participants.

The old friend of director Ari tells him about a frightening nightmare in which 26 dangerous dogs chase him every night and that it has been coming and haunting him for long.

Rahman bags yet another plum award

Slumdog Millionaire, the rags-to-riches story of a Mumbai slum dweller, has bagged five prestigious prizes including the Best Composer Award for Indian music maestro A R Rahman at the Broadcast Film Critics Association's 14th annual Critics Choice Awards.

British Director Danny Boyle's Indian drama was a big hit at the award ceremony last night. It won Best Film, Best Director for Danny Boyle, Best Writer for Simon Beaufoy, Best Young Actor for Dev Patel and Best Composer for A R Rahman.

The Broadcast Film Critics Association's 14th annual Critics Choice Awards (BFCA), which took place at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium recently, is the largest film critics organization, with more than 200 members in the US and Canada.

Watch A. R. Rahman speak to the press….

Shilpa is the heroine of 'Junction'

Shipa Shukla acted in the highly acclaimed nationally and internationally recognised movie 'Khamosh Pani' but only after the block buster 'Chak De' she began to get recognition and offers.

She was called Bindiya Naik in Shah Rukh's movie which had enough space for Shilpa to show her talent.

So what was this lady doing all this time after she acted in 'Chak De India'?

Shipla was getting offers but the issue of getting stereotyped was also there to be handled.

The roles that she was being offered all had shades of negativity in them as she played a slightly negative role in 'Chak De'.

She thought that it is better to wait for the right movie to make its calling than make compromises and accept what is being offered to be just in the limelight.

And her patience has paid off.

Shilpa has been selected to be the leading lady opposite Abhay Deol in his next movie titled as 'Junction'.

The love story is to be directed by the debutant director Atul Sabharwal.

Atul has been working previously as a script writer and has written scripts for films like 'Phir Milenge', 'My Wife's Murder' and 'Darna Mana Hai'.

SRK invited to Golden Globe Awards

For the first time in 66 years since its origin, an Indian celebrity has been invited to present an award. Yup! Shah Rukh Khan's charisma is far-famed all over the globe and recently getting positioned at 41^st rank amongst World's 50 topmost powerful people has made it all bigger. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), organizers of this award ceremony had recently held discussions about finalizing celebrities to present awards where SRK was ensconced.

One of the sources said, 'Officials from HFPA would soon fleet to the shooting spots of My Name is Khan at LA and extend an invitation to Shah Rukh Khan.' The award ceremony would be held on January 11, at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. King Khan would be signing a letter confirming about his presence for the ceremony.

Shah Rukh says, 'The officials from HFPA had approached me for presenting awards for a best film under Drama category. As I would be free from shooting on Jan 11, it's gonna be a great time as A.R. Rahman is nominated for best original score in 'Slumdog Millionaire'. I would love to watch him winning the awards'.

Director Danny Boyle along with A.R. Rahman would be representing Slumdog Millionaire. Filmmaker Karan Johar too has been invited to grace over the occasion.

Send your B'day wishes to AR.Rahman

Easily the most successful Indian musician to go global, A. R. Rahman turns 43 today. Having started his career in tinsel town with Mani Ratnam's 1992 film 'Roja', the talented Rahman has literally taken the world by storm with his magnificent orchestration and apt music.

A major strength of this musical wizard is the art of fusing many styles of music to produce an end result that is so very soothing and energizing with the desired mood…. an incredible ability and yet something that A. R. Rahman does quite naturally. Apart from his millions of Indian fans who shower accolades on him by the hour, Rahman's incredible talent had attracted the attention of the famed TIME Magazine which referred to him as the 'Mozart of Madras'.

Born as A. S. Dileep Kumar in the year 1966 in Chennai, the young lad has always been associated with music, thanks to his family. Losing his father at the tender age of nine, young Dileep's family was involved in renting out musical instruments. In the late 1970s his family converted to Islam and Dilip Kumar became Allah Rakkha Rahman.

Passionate about music all the time, young Rahman worked his way up to the recognition level by composing jingles for commercials, working on the background scores for documentaries and television programs. The big break came his way when Mani Ratnam approached him for the film 'Roja'. A seldom talked about fact is that A. R. Rahman is the recipient of the prestigious Rajat Kamal Award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards. He received this award on debut. Such an instance was never heard of before.

A musical genius was born. All spotlights were turned on him and scores of Tamil films followed. 'Puthiya Mugam', 'Gentleman', 'Kizhakku Cheemayile', 'Uzhvan', 'Thiruda Thiruda', 'Duet', 'May Maadham', 'Kadhalan', 'Bombay' etc. Almost all the songs that featured in these films went on to become big time chartbusters. A. R. Rahman had taken the world of Tamil Cinema by storm with his magnificent style of music. The musical genius was bestowed with an appropriate title 'Isai Puyal' (musical storm).

Soon after, Bollywood came knocking on his doors and A. R. Rahman's tunes in the blockbuster 'Rangeela' set the whole of India dancing to his tunes gleefully. The 'Mozart of Madras' started to spell magic with every single outing and he had become hot property.

Minsara Kanavu (Tamil), Kabhi Na Kabhi (Hindi), Fire (Hindi), 'Kadhal Desam', 'Jeans' (Tamil), 'Taal' (Hindi), 'Padayappa', 'Kadhalar Dinam' (Tamil), 'Lagaan' (Hindi), 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh' (Hindi), 'Boys' (Tamil), 'Warriors of Haven and Earth' (Mandarin & Japanese), 'Rang De Basanti' (Hindi), 'Sillunu Oru Kadhal' (Tamil), 'Ayutha Ezhuthu / Yuva' (Tamil / Hindi), Elizabeth: The Golden Age' (English), 'Jodha Akbar', 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' (Hindi), Sakkarakatti (Tamil), 'Yuvvraaj', 'Ghajini' (Hindi), 'Slumdog Millionaire' (English) etc. have all rocked audiences. A. R. Rahman had become a world phenomenon by now….

A. R. Rahman's international recognition for the English film 'Slumdog Millionaire' is simply outstanding. The Los Angeles Film Critics Award, New York Online Film Critics Award, International Press Academy Satellite Award, Black Reel Award and the San Diego Film Critics Award.

A. R. Rahman has been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards for 'Slumdog Millionaire' and also at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award. Results are awaited….but Rahman is expected to win these as well.

The music wizard has many films up his sleeve and they include 'Asokavanam' (Tamil), 'Puli' (Telugu), 'Sultan: the warrior' and 'Endhiran' (Tamil).

Apart from movies, Rahman is also known for his albums that have gone on to break collection records. 'Vande Mataram', a patriotic album that was composed in the 1997 to commemorate India's fiftieth year of Independence is something every patriotic Indian cherishes close to his or her heart.

Going by the host of recognition this incredible talent is receiving, the Oscars might not be far away. We surely have a genius in our backyard who is sought after internationally. Let's hope A. R. Rahman continues to do what he does masterfully – sway our hearts with his enthralling music.

Indiaglitz salutes and wishes A. R. Rahman a magnificent birthday….
5th january is a.r rahmans birthday.

Happy Birthday Deepika Padukone!

'Wordlessly stupefying' are her looks and she's there to throw everyone transfixed with these factors of great elegance. Right with her first appearances on screen, she grabbed everyone's attention around the globe and today we've this missy celebrating her 22nd birthday.

Fine! Deepika's birthday wish is that she would like to start-up with her new endeavor of 'interior designing'. On her favorite film Deepika says, "Om Shanthi Om would be my all-time favorite movie as it had everything; fun, love, emotions and more…"

Getting into filmdom, the young actress says that she had to sacrifice everything her favorites including the best-loved foods, maintain heavy-diet, keep travelling and miss her close friends too.

So, who's the role model who inspired her a lot as an actress? 'Undoubtedly, it's Aishwarya Rai who has been invigorating my spirits. Well, she has been a model right before commencing her career as an actress and these attributes gets us closer'.

IndiaGlitz wishes Deepika Padukone a very happy birthday and let this New Year bring the most fortunate things in her life. 5th january is deepikas birth day.

Kajol's eye-catching looks on Men Magazine's cover

Quite inquisitive, how this didn't happen earlier? Her charismatic looks goes now featured on the cover of splendid magazine. After Priyanka Chopra and Tabu, it's Kajol's turn to appear on the cover of M, a lifestyle and luxury magazine for men…

One of the closest sources revealed, "Commonly, independent and successful actresses with best attitudes are featured on the magazine cover. Nevertheless, everyone got fascinated with Kajol's entrancing looks". Also adds they've decided to use her pictures for interviews too of January issue.

Well, the much elated Kajol says that she had a great fun reaching out for different looks of both classic and contemporary. She earnestly thanks Jatin Kampani for getting her sported attractively.

Pranav Capila, executive editor of M utters, 'Featuring Kajol on M's edition has been our all-time wish and we're so gleeful that Kajol accepted our offer'.