AR Rahman wins two Grammy Awards

Mumbai: “Slumdog Millionaire” composer A.R. Rahman struck gold twice at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, adding to the Oscars he won last year for the film’s soundtrack and theme song “Jai Ho”.

Rahman, 44, beat Grammy veteran Bruce Springsteen in the motion picture song category while “Slumdog Millionaire” swept aside “Inglourious Basterds” and “Twilight” to win best compilation soundtrack for a film.

“Insane eh? I never even dreamt about winning all these awards,” the composer said on his Twitter account.

Country-pop starlet Taylor Swift and R&B star Beyonce were the big winners at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

In 2009, Rahman became the first Indian composer to triumph at the Oscars, winning for original score and original song in “Slumdog Millionaire”, a feat that earned him the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, this year.

Known for his musical versatility -- from romantic compositions to foot-tapping numbers, Rahman has innovated with different instruments and sounds to create some of India’s best-known musical hits for nearly two decades.

Despite earlier international credits such as the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Bombay Dreams”, it is Rahman’s work on British director Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog” that endeared him to Western critics.

His work for the Hollywood film “Couples Retreat” is in contention in the original song category at the Oscars next month. The nominations will be announced on Tuesday.