Indians gushing with pride as India shines at Oscars

India and Bollywood ruled the roost in the media coverage of the 81st Annual Academy Awards as Americans woke up to pictures of Slumdog's excited child actors flanked by Rahman, Anil Kapoor, Irrfaan Khan, Danny Boyle, Frieda Pinto and Dev Patel splashed across newspapers and the internet.

The headline of a Chicago Tribune story on Slumdog read, "A passage to India", with the article going on to read, "The rollicking wish-fulfillment yarn Slumdog Millionaire, nearly dumped into the marketplace last year as a direct-to-DVD offering, fulfilled its destiny at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre".

ABC News had this to say of "the show stealer" Slumdog - "After winning the hearts of moviegoers around world, Slumdog Millionaire, a buoyantly hopeful romance set amid the poverty of Mumbai, India, won the Academy Award for best picture, capping a night of wins including the best director Oscar for Danny Boyle".

An article in the Chicago Suntimes said Slumdog's win would give the same "feeling of elevation" to India as the November 4 election of President Barack Obama gave to his hometown Chicago.

Newspapers in India have hailed the success of Slumdog Millionaire, its composer AR Rahman and the documentary Smile Pinki at the Oscars on Monday. Rahman won two Oscars, best original score and best original song - Jai Ho - with fellow Indian Gulzar.

The Oscar wins made front page headline news in all newspapers, with special praise for AR Rahman, who is a cult music composer in India.

Slumgod, headlined The Indian Express.

"Like it or not, you have to have been swayed by its anthem song, Jai Ho. And whether or not this prepares the ground for an Indian original to cross over, there had to have been misty eyed moments when AR Rahman took his bow," the newspaper said in an editorial.

'Triumph of hope'

India Breaks Sound Barrier headlined The Times of India, alluding to the success of Rahman's music and Resul Pookuty's sound mixing awards.

"You know India has arrived when everybody in Hollywood's Kodak Theatre - from Brad Pitt to Kate Winslet, Steven Spielberg to Meryl Streep- move to the beat of Jai Ho," the newspaper wrote.

The Hindu newspaper called the film's success as a "triumph of hope".

The newspaper said that though Slumdog was made by a British director and funded by a European company, "it is seen by many at home as an Indian film".

Hindustan Times said that Slumdog was a "great exhilarating film that has brought willy-nilly the 'Bollywood' language into mainstream world cinema".

"What better way for us to be flattered than when a foreign film hits Oscar gold by going down our 'filmy' path?"