OK. Flash back time.....
It was roughly 3 months back when I started listening to Slumdog Millionaire. The first listen to "O.. Saaya" was soooo captivating that I was mad at Rahman for keeping this a secret project. Then I couldn't wait for the movie and to my surprise, it released quite quickly and in fact without much publicity. Though the movie was quite normal, the background score was mind-blowing!! The credits read out "Music produced by Rahman". What a perfect choice of words to describe such a unique and original score! All 12 tracks were pure magic !!
After that, I expected world-wide acclaim for Rahman but didn't expect so many nominations/awards. The Golden Globe was an awesome addition to his resume not to mention quite a few other awards in the international stage culminating with the Oscars. Watching both the Golden Globes and the Oscars in full HD on a 40" TV made every cent I invested in it TOTALLY worth it !!
While watching the Golden Globes, when Rahman mentioned "I thank all my musicians in Chennai and Mumbai", I felt so elated that he mentioned my home-town !! Since then, the countdown to Oscars started and all I could do is pray for Rahman to win both Oscars even though one was a sure-shot win (2 nominations out of 3 in the same category.. can't get much easier than that for a man of his talent !!). But I believed the "Best Original Score" was a tough category to win considering that he was alongside some greats including Thomas Newman (10 oscars) and James Newton Howard (8 oscars) . If Hans Zimmer was also nominated, then Rahman could have had the chance to beat all of Hollywood's top music composers in his first nomination !! Imagine these guys' plight if Rahman was nominated every year !!!
But then, Rahman proved his mettle (once again !) by claiming both awards and also performing (extraordinarily) two of the best songs in the movie. I screamed so hard at Rahman's name being announced that I almost missed the start of the speech. There were 6-8 people at our place cheering like some India-Pak match! My excitement reached its peak when Rahman said "I would like to say something in Tamizh, which I usually say at all award ceremonies.. ELLAPUGHAZHUM IRAIVANUKKE... God is great !". In a situation where all people who start with their usual "peter" on accomplishing small things, this guy walks on perhaps the most watched award ceremony in the world and takes the most coveted award in the world movie industry and speaks God's praise in his mother tongue Tamizh.... wow ... thala's simplicity rocks !!
I have nothing more to say except... "My salutations to you, oh God of music. May you enthrall us with your exquisite compositions forever. I know you made a billion people proud of being an Indian but you also succeeded in making me a stronger, more fervent Rahman fanatic!!"
