Oh Danny Boyle

So,A.R. Rahman has got his due with three Oscar nominations for Slumdog Millionaire. Poet-lyricist Gulzar has a shot at sharing one of them. And India,in its effusive embrace of the entire crew,gets a chance to make acquaintance with Resul Pookutty,the sound engineer co-nominated for an Academy Award. And with seven other nominations announced on Thursday,including for best film and director,Slumdog can safely be said to have co-swept the nominations with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,the Brad Pitt starrer about a man aging backwards. Director Danny Boyle can well exult again at the mad,pulsating affection for Slumdog.

But why,at the prospect of an Oscar,are we so happy in India? Amitabh Bachchan is the only one to ask. And its a fair question,that need not be shrugged away even in its more churlish,even facetious follow-ups. Are Indians fixated on Western markers for validation? Is it right for a film-maker to pick up stories of the darker underbelly of our cities? The two answers,of course not and why not. Awards,those that come with a reputation for fairness and discernment,are integral to the appreciation of the arts. They mark out themes of the time,they pick up trends in a crowded tableaux,they give us hooks to know the new artists. To those who bristle at the exclusions why has Rahman not been noticed earlier for his scores for Hindi films,they ask,why has Indian cinema been denied an Oscar crossover film the answer is simple. To be overlooked for an award is not a statement. And to ignore the magnitude of a good night out at the awards ceremony is to miss an opportunity to understand whats changing.

Slumdog Millionaire has enough critical acclaim. But its big outing by the American Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences shows the consequences of the internationalisation of its membership. It also shows that a 10 million film like Slumdog,with unknown leads,can be appraised alongside the 150 million

Benjamin Button. Its time to move beyond the old categories.