Hamare paas Rahman hai

In his oscar award acceptance speech Rahman said 'Mere paas ma hai'.Actually this is what Rahman said -

Before coming, I was excited and terrified. The last time I felt like that was during my marriage. There's a dialogue from a Hindi film called "Mere paas ma hai," which means "I have nothing but I have a mother," so mother's here, her blessings are there with me. I am grateful for her to have come all the way. And I want to thank the Academy for being so kind, all the jury members. I want to thank Sam Schwartz, I/D PR, all the crew of Slumdog, Mr Gulzar , Raqueeb Alam, Blaaze, my musicians in Chennai and Mumbai. And I want to tell something in Tamil, which says, which I normally say after every award which is... "God is great." Thank you.


We all Indians can say Hamare paas Rahman Hai..
At this moment of rare glory and triumph for our dear Rahman,a word of caution may not be out of place.He should not think that he has achieved enough.Should continue to strive for excellence.For Rahman,sky is the limit now.Infact,he should be more careful in his work now,because he is now a global phenomenon,a global star and many more people around the globe will be keenly following him and he should not let them down.


He is a rare gem like Tendulkar is to India Cricket and we should be really really proud of having such a greatly talented & humble Musician amongst our midst.We can all say loudly,proudly,sweetly that he is an Indian and that we r proud of him.


8 awards,almost a sweep.That's what slumdog millionaire has done at the Oscar.2 Indians won the Oscar.36-year-old Resul Pookutty,from Kerala for best sound mixing.
43 year-old A.R.Rahman won 2 oscars for his music in the film.Congrats also to Smile Pinki (the documentary about Pinki Kumari).

Resul Pookutty's acceptance speech at the Oscars:

'This is unbelievable. We can't believe this. Ladies and gentlemen... sorry... I share the stage with two magicians, you know, who created the very ordinary sounds of Bombay, the cacophony of Bombay, into a soul-stirring, artful resonance called Slumdog Millionaire.

I come from a country and a civilization that given the universal word. That word is preceded by silence, followed by more silence. That word is 'Om.' So I dedicate this award to my country. Thank you, Academy, this is not just a sound award, this is history being handed over to me. My sincere and deepest gratitude to my teachers, Danny Boyle , Christian Colson, Paul Ritchie, Pravesh... and everybody who has contributed to this film, Glenn Freemantle and all the sound mixers. I dedicate this to you guys. Thank you, Academy. Thank you very much.'

Morning while watching the live show of the Oscars,I was soo happy to see the joy and excitement of his relatives,neighbours,when he won the award.Resul would have been very happy to see it.I guess,it would be a really nice feeling to see near and dear ones and the Country as a whole celebrating some thing that you achieve after putting in a lot of hardwork.I especially liked him dedicating the award to the Nation.


Even though I don't like the name 'slumDOG',it's really good that a film based on a story written by an Indian Diplomat Vikas Swarup,and having the full cast and many techicians as Indians made it so big at the oscars.

I am a big admirer of Rahman,but honestly speaking,I don't think the music of slumdog millinaire is amongst the top ten albums of A.R.Rahman.Songs in films like Roja,Bombay,Taal,Dil se,Rang De Basanth,Lagaan etc,were far far better.Still it's good to win an Oscar,you know.

Some people in India has critized the film saying it showed Mumbai's vulnerable underbelly.May be they have a point there,a really valid point.But then slums as shown in the film do exist,and there is nothing to gain by hiding unfortunate facts.I have not yet seen the film.I do plan to watch it very soon.So as of now I would not like to comment on whether it portrays India in a bad light.I believe it's not.

One thing I want to say is ,I am quite sure A.R.Rahman and Gulzar will not allow themselves to be part of a film which shows India in a bad light and shows distorted facts.And to add to this,to those who are saying that the film is in bad taste ,I want to ask them whether films made in India shows only good things about our Country?

In every society there are good and bad things,there are bitter truths,unfortunate happenings.But there is nothing to hide.Just a film.And if such a film makes people think and if they do some thing to improve the lot of the poor people living in the slums,then that's the best thing the people who criticize can do.Just see what change the film has done to the lives of those boys and girls who acted in the film.

Also I read in a website, Bollywood composer Aadesh Srivastava saying that he is embarrassed to walk on the streets of the US after Oscar-nominated 'Slumdog Millionaire' because 'they have started calling Indians slumdogs'.

What I want to say to Aadesh is,'just ignore it man.Do you bark at a dog that barks at you? No.right.Then what's your problem.If you are ashamed of the slums in Mumbai and other cities in India,do some thing to uplift the life of those slum dwellers.'

As A.R.Rahman said,look at the positive side of the film.Rahman says the film is about hope,about achievement of ones dream.And ultimately,as I mentioned above,it's just a film.Just view the oscar sweep by Slumdog Millianaire as a door that got opened for Indians.

Some people might ask,why this fuss about the Oscars..
Well,atleast think this way.It's a stage were the best compete and so it's worth participating..!

To Aadesh and those who think that the film tarnished India's image,I want to say only this.India is too big man.One film or thousand films like this won't affect India.India is India.The world knows about India,India's beauty,India's capabilities,India's stunning DIVERSITY,even though I would say we are still a 'sleeping giant'.We have not realised even 10% of our real potential.


If any outsider ever thinks,after watching the film,that India is only about slums,then hope he 'get well soon'.Just leave that sick man alone.


India does not need any certificate of what India is from any outsiders.



Well,I know that I have deviated a lot from my post subject,which is about A.R.Rahman@the_oscar.But then it's also important to try and present the facts.May be I have not achieved in what I tried to say.But then,I can atleast have the satisfaction that I did try.


Now to wind up this,I just want to say 'Jai Ho' to ARRAHMAN & Resul and 'Jai Hind' to our Great Nation...