'Slumdog' best in show
at Oscars with eight awards:
Rags-to-riches drama 'Slumdog Millionaire' swept the board at the
81st Academy Awards here Sunday, winning eight Oscars including best
picture on a night of high-voltage Hollywood glamor.
Winner for Best Original Song A.R. Rahman (‘O Saya’ from
‘Slumdog Millionaire’) holds up his Oscars. AFP |
The feel-good film about a Mumbai tea boy who rises from poverty and
enters a television quiz show to win millions and find the love of his
life, won eight of the nine categories in which it was nominated at the
Kodak Theater.
The acting honors saw Sean Penn triumph for his portrayal of murdered
gay politician Harvey Milk in the biopic "Milk" while Britain's Kate
Winslet ended her Oscars losing streak for her performance in Holocaust
drama 'The Reader.'
There was a tear-jerking posthumous Oscar for late Australian actor
Heath Ledger, a moment of unforgettable poignancy that reduced the
star-studded audience to hushed silence.
But it was the triumph of "Slumdog Millionaire" that stole the show,
with more than a dozen members of the Bollywood-inspired movie's cast
and crew crowding the stage to receive best picture from Steven
Spielberg.
"We had passion and we had belief and if you have those two things,
truly, anything is possible," said producer Christian Colson.
The 'Slumdog' Oscar-haul included best director honors for British
film-maker Danny Boyle and a brace of Academy Awards for Indian composer
A.R. Rahman, who won for best song and original score.
It was a fairytale night for 'Slumdog', which had been nearly
released directly to video last year after losing its US distributor, a
move which would have ruled it out of Oscars contention.
A girl plays with her younger sibling on the railway tracks near
the shanty of “Slumdog Millionaire” child actor Rubina Ali in
Mumbai on February 23, 2009. AFP |
The best picture award brought the curtain down on a revamped Oscars
ceremony that had earlier seen Penn and Winslet carve up the top acting
honors.
"Thank you, you commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect
this," joked Penn after collecting the second best actor Oscar of his
career.
Penn used his acceptance speech to urge opponents of same-sex
marriage recently banned in California to rethink their positions.
"I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban
against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame
and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of
support," he said.
"We've got to have equal rights for everyone."
Winslet, 33, meanwhile won her first Oscar after five previous
defeats, for her portrayal of a former Nazi death camp guard who starts
a love affair with a teenage boy in post-war Germany and is later put on
trial for war crimes.
Winslet admitted she had been dreaming of Oscars gold for a very long
time.
"I'd be lying if I haven't made a version of this speech before. I
think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom
mirror and this would have been a shampoo bottle," she told the
audience.
"It's not a shampoo bottle now," Winslet quipped. "I feel very
fortunate to have made it all the way from there to here and I'd like to
thank some of the people along the way who had faith in me."
Earlier Heath Ledger's family took to the stage to collect the tragic
star's best supporting actor honor for his portrayal of Batman villain
the Joker in 'The Dark Knight.'
Actor Sean Penn (L) and Robin Wright Penn attends the 2009
Governor’s Ball in Hollywood, California, on February 22, 2009
after the Academy Awards show. AFP |
"Heath, we both knew what you had created in the Joker was
extraordinarily special, and had even talked about being here on this
very day," Ledger's sister Kate said. "We really wish you were, but we
proudly accept this award on behalf of your beautiful daughter Matilda.
Thank you," she added.
Spanish star Penelope Cruz won the best supporting actress prize for
her part in the steamy Woody Allen comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."
"Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one," an
overwhelmed Cruz said as she accepted her award.
Period romance "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which began the
night with 13 nominations, ended the night with only three Oscars in the
technical categories of art direction, makeup and visual effects.
The new-look awards extravaganza had got off to a flying start with
Australian actor host Hugh Jackman wasting no time in launching into a
medley of musical numbers that referenced this year's nominees.
It was one of several innovations made by Oscars show producers that
breathed new life into the previously tried and trusted formula which
had led to record low television ratings last year.
In the most noticeable break with the past, the show called on giants
of the acting world to introduce each individual nominee in the acting
categories, a ploy that heightened the anticipation inside the theater.
As usual, stars of the silver screen literally shone on the red
carpet bringing excitement, style and old-fashioned glamour to the
event.
Shimmering gowns of gold and silver; glittering crystal, sequins and
beading were the most popular choices for the icons of the movie
industry on the most famous fashion runway in the world.
HOLLYWOOD, AFP |