Why O Why?

I truly am happy for AR Rahman, now that he has won some international acclaim with the Golden Globe award for his scores for the movie Slumdog Millionaire. I had full goosebumps when he remembered to mention Chennai for his success. But surely, this was a mediocre work by his own standards compared to some of the magic he had conjured in Roja, Rangeela, Indian, etc. That brings us to my first what IF of the day. What if Rahman had scored some of these pieces earlier for a movie produced by one of those powerhouses from California? We will never know....

Anyways, now the enitre Indian media is bound to trip over itself while running to be the first to interview all kinds of people from the ones going on suburban trains to big time corporate hunks on how they feel about this new honor bestowed upon an Indian. Breathless reports by Burkha Dutt would logically ensue while she 'fittingly' stands amidst the crowds of Mumbai and talk about how this has brought immense joy to the much maligned Mumbaikar. And Pratibha Patel has to congratulate Rahman which would be followed probably by Manmohan Singh hosting a luncheon with him. More madness...

All these reminds me of an interview in some TV channel with Kamal Hassan. Kamal was asked if he had ambitions to win an Oscar in his life. I paraphrase Kamal's reply: 'Why should Oscar be the ultimate award which Tamil or Indian cinema seek? Oscar awards are given by the American film industry to films made in America. Why cant we raise our cinemas to a level where it is recognized globally and appreciated. Then we can have great pride in receiving a National award or a state award for our efforts and still have the same satisfaction of getting an Oscar'.
Need I say more? These lines concisely state everything that I would want to say after the melee that is going to ensue in India.

On another note, Heath ledger has won the Best supporting award for his performance in The Dark Knight. Which brings me to the 2nd big IF of the day. What if he had survived that fateful day and made more movies, especially a sequel to the Dark Knight?