Rahman wins two Grammys for `Slumdog Millionaire'

`Slumdog Millionaire" composer A.R. Rahman struck gold twice at the Grammy Awards on Jan. 31, adding to the Oscars he won last year for the film's soundtrack and theme song "Jai Ho".

Rahman, 44, beat Grammy veteran Bruce Springsteen in the motion picture song category while "Slumdog Millionaire" swept aside "Inglourious Basterds" and "Twilight" to win best compilation soundtrack for a film.

"Insane eh? I never even dreamt about winning all these awards," the composer said on his Twitter account.

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Is `Slumdog Millionaire' Rahman's best score?

Waking up on a Monday morning is so much nicer when you wake up to good news, isn't it? A.R.Rahman winning two Grammys for "Slumdog Millionaire" certainly made my day, but as television channels played its theme song "Jai Ho" over and over again, I found myself wanting to hear some of his other compositions.

"Dil Hai Chota Sa" from "Roja" perhaps or "Naina Milaike" from "Saathiya", "Ay Hairathe" from "Guru" and my favorite -"Arziyan" from "Delhi 6?.

While "Slumdog" and "Jai Ho" have captured the world's imagination, I wonder if it is his best work. When Rahman won the Oscar last year, I remember lyricist Gulzar telling me he thought Rahman's music for Mani Ratnam's upcoming film "Ravana" was his best.

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A.R. Rahman awarded London's Trinity College Fellowship

Oscar winner musician A.R. Rahman has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of London's Trinity College of Music, Dec. 16.

According to Rahman's website, the award was conferred in respect of his distinctive contribution to and creativity in the art, his website said.

The award was presented by Barry Wordsworth, Music Director of the Royal Ballet Covent Garden. Nicknamed the `Mozart of Madras' by Time Magazine. Rahman is well known for the musical "Bombay Dreams" and the scores for films like "Roja", "Bombay",

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Time Ho!

How do you measure influence? Well, according to Time magazine's Managing Editor Richard Stengel, you look for "people who are using their ideas, their vision, their actions to transform the world." The results may surprise you, as they probably did Time's editors, when a little-known college student topped the list. The magazine's Time 100 list of most influential people in 2009 includes five South Asians: A.R. Rahman, M.I.A., Nandan Nilekani, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Suraya Pakzad.

A.R. Rahman
Given his dream run at the Oscars and the Golden Globes, few would be surprised by A.R.Rahman's inclusion in the list. What is incredible is how the 43-year-old music director has taken the world by storm with his score for "Slumdog Millionaire." But he's no one-hit wonder, as anyone who has ever watched Indian films can vouch.

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