Amid Naatu Naatu buzz, AR Rahman recalls when Slumdog Millionaire's Jai Ho won at Oscars

A.R. Rahman recently reflected on his Oscar win in 2008 for his work in film Slumdog Millionaire. musical polymath won Oscars in two categories, namely Best Original Song and Best Original Score, and it was one of proudest moments for India on a global level. Rahman said that he couldn’t fully believe win, and questioned wher it was a dream. 

In a video posted by official Twitter handle for Academy Awards, A.R. Rahman recalled how he felt at time. He said that he felt like a gladiator, seeing massive pop from audience as his name for win was anunced. He added that he didn’t exactly have a speech in mind, though when he saw Penelope Cruz speak in Spanish during her Oscar acceptance, he was inspired by it.

“I went to all se amazing dinners before Oscars. But still, I was unsure, and whole of India was cheering. I felt like, a gladiator. When y anunced my name for score, I was like, “Is this real? Or is this a dream? And because I had to perform next, I was like “A.R., don’t react. re’s this and more. Don’t mess up your performance." My speech was t prepared. Like maximum, I’d say thank you, and go off. But when I was sitting re seeing Penelope Cruz speak in Spanish, I was like, oh, that’s cool.” 

Check out clip below. 

A.R. Rahman's mess of 'optimism and hope'

When his name was anunced for win, he stated that he wanted to say something in Tamil. Rahman said, "All perfect praise belongs to God alone." He added, "I wanted to remember God who is common to all of us.” 

As Oscar Awards were put toger against backdrop of ecomic recession, world faced in 2008, Slumdog Millionaire felt like most relatable story of era. A.R. Rahman added, “ essence of film was optimism and hope. All my life, I've had a choice of hate and love. I chose love, and I'm here.”

Speaking of Oscars 2023, India is rooting for RRR's Naatu Naatu to win award for Best Original Song. Or Indian films that are in run for Academy Awards are Elephant Whisperers and All That Breas under categories of Best Documentary Short Fillm and Best Documentary Feature Film, respectively.