Odds of Slumdog winning an Oscar

If experts are to be believed, critically acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire is at 2-7 odds of winning the prestigious Academy Award for the Best Motion Picture.

The film, which has won four Golden Globe Awards and has garnered 10 nominations at the Oscars, tracks the story of Jamal Malik, a dirt-poor orphan from the slums who astonishes India when he does well on the country's version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'

Indian music composer A R Rahman has been nominated for original score while director Danny Boyle is a nominee in Best Director category.

Damian Smee, film expert from William Hill, one of the largest bookmakers in the UK, has been compiling Oscar odds for 27 years and picks up the winner 'eight times out of ten'.

He said that Slumdog Millionaire is at 2-7 odds of winning the Oscars while The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is at 4-1 odds.

Boyle is at 4-9 odds of winning the Oscars for the Best Director compared to 7-2 for David Fincher, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, 8-1 for Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon, 8-1 for Stephen Daldry, The Reader, and 10-1 for Gus Van Sant, Milk.

Kate Winslet has 8-15 odds of winning the Best actress award for The Reader, while Anne Hathaway is at 8-15 odds of winning for Rachel Getting Married.

Angelina Jolie (Changeling) and Meryl Streep (Doubt) are at 8-1 odds of winning the gong.

Mickey Rourke's role as retired professional wrestler Randy in The Wrestler puts him at the highest odds of winning the Academy Award for Best Actor with 4-6 odds.

Brad Pitt has 14-1 odds of winning award for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, while Sean Penn is at 6-4 odds of winning the gong.

'The biggest prizes have never looked as settled as they do this year,' Times Online quoted a spokesman for the betting company as saying.

'There's normally at least two contenders for each award but this year the favourites are all nailed on,' he added.

Shah Rukh: No Regrets to decline ‘Slumdog’

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who was apparently the original choice for the role of quiz-master in Danny Boyle’s much acclaimed flick ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, says that the actor doesn’t regret his decision of turning down the offer. With ‘Slumdog’ having bagged as many as ten Oscar nominations, it was being assumed that Shah Rukh must not be too sure now, about the decision he had taken then.

When asked about his decision to turn down the role, the actor said, “Everything isn’t made for me alone. God has given me enough. I’d better be happy and contented.”

However, Shah Rukh has been all praise for Anil Kapoor and feels no hesitation in saying that he has done a fabulous job as the host of the game show.

Well, we believe it would not have been too hard for Shah Rukh to be satisfied with his decision, for the actor must have got used to it now after rejecting ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ out of many more in the past.

Big B takes a dig at Slumdog Millionaire

Amitabh Bachchan takes a dig at Slumdog Millionaire. Big B seems to be perturbed over projection of India as a poor third world country in the hugely successful film SlumDog Millionaire.The film has been in the news ever since its launch. It has gone on to win some big time awards including Golden Globe. The film also fetched a Golden Globe award to India’s musical genius AR Rahman.
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But Big B seems to be unhappy over the portrayal of India as a third world nation.

While writing on his blog Big B says, “If SM projects India as Third World dirty under belly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky under belly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations.

He goes on to say, “Its just that the SM idea authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a Westerner, gets creative Globe recognition. The other would perhaps not”.

He is also angry over world cinema bodies not recognizing the Indian cinema. “The commercial escapist world of Indian Cinema had vociferously battled for years , on the attention paid and the adulation given to the legendary Satyajit Ray at all the prestigious Film Festivals of the West, and not a word of appreciation for the entertaining mass oriented box office block busters that were being churned out from Mumbai. The argument. Ray portrayed reality. The other escapism, fantasy and incredulous posturing. Unimpressive for Cannes and Berlin and Venice. But look how rapidly all that is changing. Retrospectives in Paris and New York. Dedicated TV channels running Hindi cinema on prime timings. Premiers at Leiscester Square, the home of all Hollywood royalty, thronged by hundreds on the street in cold biting weather. Affable recognition at most corners of the universe… And a dear friend from Los Angeles wires in that Hollywood is abuzz with India and the phenomenal talent that exists there. We’re talking cinema still” adds the actor.