A.R. Rahman bags two Grammy awards

It's Jai Ho for Rahman again. The double-Oscar winner shared the 'best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture' Grammy with lyricist Gulzar for the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. "Jai ho" was judged the best motion picture song.

A.R. Rahman accepts the award for best song written for motion picture, television or other visual media at the Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles. Photo: AP

Music maestro A.R. Rahman continued his winning spree by striking double gold at the 52nd Grammy Awards here but two other Indian hopefuls Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Zakir Hussain lost out.

Rahman, 44, registered an early win in both the categories he was nominated for, the 'Best Compilation Soundtrack for a Motion Picture' category and in the 'Best Motion Picture Song' for 'Jai Ho'. He shares the award with lyricist Gulzar and Tanvi Shah, who penned the Spanish lyrics of the international hit.

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali, who was nominated in the Best Traditional World Music Album category for his album "Ancient Sounds", lost out to Douga Mansa by Mamadou Diabate.

Tabla maestro Hussain, who had won a Grammy last year, was nominated in the Best Classical Crossover Album category for his album "The Melody of Rhythm", failed to register a win this year. He lost out to Yo-Yo Ma's "Songs Of Joy And Peace".

But it was a golden moment for Rahman. His win was reminiscent of the victory at the Oscars last year where the 'Mozart of Madras' had bagged two Academy awards for his composition in 'Slumdog Millionaire' besides winning a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award.

"This is insane, God is great again," an elated Rahman said while accepting the golden gramophones at the Staples Centre here.

The composer also thanked his friends and family members after his historical win.

"Hey guys in India... We got two Grammys again and God bless you all," Rahman said.

"Jai Ho" has been sung by Sukhvinder Singh, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Tanvi Shah, Vijay Prakash and Rahman himself.

Rahman beat Steve Jordan for "Cadillac Records," Quentin Tarantino for 'Inglourious Basterds', the producers of 'Twilight' and 'True Blood' to bag the award in the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture category.

In the best song category his competitor were Bruce Springsteen for his song 'The Wrestler' from the Oscar-nominated movie of the same name.

This is Rahman's first Grammy win and the musician joins the league of stalwarts like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayak and Vishvamohan Bhatt, the previous Grammy winners from India.