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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/music/God-is-great-again-Rahman/articleshow/5523946.cmsAR Rahman left India on Friday with his son and wife to attend the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Early on Monday morning, while it was still Sunday night in LA, Rahman created history of sorts when he picked up two Grammy Awards for his music in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman has now joined other Indian music greats like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, who have won Grammys before. Rahman was the earliest winner in the Best Compilation Soundtrack for a Motion Picture category, and picked up another trophy for his song, Jai Ho, in the Best Motion Picture Song category, only moments later. This is Rahman’s first Grammy victory, considered the equivalent of the Oscars in music. “This is insane, God is great again,” an elated Rahman said while accepting the golden gramophones. Rahman later said, “Insane, eh? I never even dreamt about winning all these awards...” Born as Dileep Kumar, Rahman converted to Islam and took on the name of Allah Rakha Rahman. Referring to his Sufi teachers on the occasion, he said, “I once again want to thank the Almighty, my spiritual Sufi teachers, Ameen Peerullah Malik Sahib, Danny Boyle, Fox and the whole Slumdog creative team, all the awesome actors in the movie, MIA and Resul Pookutty.” He also thanked his entire team, including “Gulzaarji, Sukhwinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Vijay Prakaash, my friend and sound engineer the late H Sridhar, Deepak, PA Chetan, Vivvianne Chaix, Aditya Modi, Sivakumar, Noell James, Ganesh, Faiz, Anne-Marie, Ranjit Barot and the folks at Nirvana.” Continuing, he also thanked his agents Sam Schwartz and Amos Newman. The reticent composer also recalled his mentor Mani Ratnam, as also his “Mentors in Mumbai, Shekhar Kapur and Subhash Ghai, and mentor in the West, Andrew Lloyd Webber, folks at IDPR, Allison and Courtney.” Ending, Rahman thanked his “extraordinary musicians from Chennai and Mumbai, my mother, my father, my sisters and my lovely wife and children, and all my well wishers from the world who keep me going ... Jai ho India!” Rahman’s win this year adds to his already overflowing kitty of international awards, which began with the Critics Choice Award for Slumdog last year, spanning the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song, at the Oscars in 2009. Additionally, Rahman is also in the Oscar race this year for his music in the flick, Couples Retreat. However, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Ustad Zakir Hussain, who were also nominated, could not manage to win the golden gramophone.
