Monday, February 01, 2010

composer Rahman wins two Grammy Awards

Feb 1, 2010
Composer AR Rahman has won two Grammy Awards at the prestigious music ceremony in Los Angeles.

Rahman received awards for best film song and best soundtrack, both compositions for the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.

Rahman won two Oscars, a Bafta and a Golden Globe last year for his soundtrack to the multi award-winning Slumdog Millionaire.

The composer is often called the Mozart of Madras, the city where he works.

Rahman won in the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture. His Jai Ho song in the film also won in the best motion picture song.

“This is insane, god is great again,” Rahman said as he accepted his award.

He later told the BBC it felt “so good, because the Grammies are meant to be the greatest music awards”.

Rahman beat such rivals as Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds and rock star Bruce Springsteen in the soundtrack and best song categories respectively.

Last month, Rahman was shortlisted for an Oscar nomination for his Tamil song NaNa from the Hollywood film, Couples Retreat.

The song is vying with 62 others for the nominations which will be revealed on 2 February.

The Grammy awards are further recognition of Rahman’s enormous talents, says the BBC’s Soutik Biswas in Delhi.

The 44-year-old composer is a musician with a staggering range - from raga to reggae to hip hop to Indian folk to jungle rhythms to western classical, our correspondent says.

Seventeen years after he began writing music and songs for films, the jingle maker-turned-musician finally got recognition as India’s first truly global film music composer with his score for Danny Boyle’s sleeper hit Slumdog Millionaire in 2009.

Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and tabla player Zakir Hussain are the other Indian musicians who have won Grammy Awards.

Courtesy BBC News

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