Rahaman and Resul Win BAFTAS; Zakir Gets His Second Grammy

Where: London, UK, and Los Angeles, USA

February 11, 2009 : India’a A.R.Rahman won the award for the Best Music Director for his work in the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ at the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards ceremony. Fellow Indian Resul Pookutty, the sound director of the film, won the Best Sound Editing Award. At the 51st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Zakir Hussain, India’s tabla maestro, won the Grammy for the best Contemporary World Music Album. Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju and Hidalgo worked on the award winning ‘Global Drum Project’ album with him.

A.R. Rahman has already won the Golden Globe Award for his musical score in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, and he has been nominated for an Oscar, as well. This is Zakir Hussain’s second Grammy. The three Indians who have won Grammys to date are sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, (who won it three times), tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, and mohan veena exponent Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.

Zakir Hussain and A.R. Rahman are well known figures in India, but Resul Pookutty’s recognition at the BAFTAs and his Oscar nomination have gladdened many hearts for another reason. His is the success story of a small boy from Kerala,who lived in a ‘nondescript village’ as he calls it, and walked six kilometres to school everyday. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, and became one of the best sound engineers in the Indian film industry.

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Filed under: world news
Tags: #india, #grammy, #oscars, #slumdog millionaire

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