Thaindian News

Washington, Jan 12 (IANS) 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.