Victory for India as two films bagged this year’s Oscars
Last updated 3/1/2009 11:11:39 PM
Pinki examining herself in the mirror
India is in the spotlight after two films set in the country, Slumdog Millionaire and Smile Pinki, took home the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Documentary at the 2009 Academy Awards in Hollywood.
Slumdog Millionaire has previously bagged Best Motion Picture at the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. British director Danny Boyle has won Best Director at all three awards.
The story is adapted from Vikas Swarup's novel Q&A, about the life of poverty-stricken children in Mumbai.
The Kerala government will be presenting gold medals to Oscar-winning music maestro A.R. Rahman, lyricist Gulzar and sound engineer Resul Pookutty at a civic reception.
Another highlight at the Oscar was Best Documentary, Smile Pinki, directed by American filmmaker Megan Mylan.
It is a real-life story of Pinki and Ghutaru, two young girls in rural India born desperately poor whose cleft lips have made them social outcasts.
The children's life-changing operations were funded by The Smile Train, the world’s leading cleft charity.
According to Smile Train, more than 4.7 million children in developing countries suffer with unrepaired clefts. Each child could be saved with a simple surgery that takes as little as 45 minutes and costs as little as $250.
Both Slumdog Millionaire and Smile Pinki efforts have successfully brought poverty and social issues affecting children worldwide to the public attention again.
Watch Slumdog Millionaire trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q
Watch Smile Pinki trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CamEXQ8x72c