MUMBAI: A R Rahman capped his winning streak for Slumdog Millionaire by winning the Best original score and Best Song Oscar awards minutes earlier.

Shortly before that, Resul Pookutty became the first Indian to get the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing for the same film, Slumdog Millionaire.

Picked out from stiff competition posed by Alexandre Desplat for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," James Newton Howard for "Defiance" and Danny Elfman for "Milk , Rahman was the picture of cool and composure as he stepped up in a black jodhpuri ensemble to collect his trophy. "The last time I felt this excited and terrified was during my marriage. I have to quote this dialogue from a Hindi film that goes, 'Mere paas maa hai...my mother's here...her belssings are with me," he quipped. After reading out the list of people he wished to thank for the award, Rahman ended his speech with a Tamil quote and then translated it for the benefit of his audience, "God is great...thank you," he ended.

Minutes later, Rahman was back on stage to accept the Best Song award for Jai Ho, again from Slumdog Millionaire.

This time, Rahman thanked the entire crew of the film again, especially filmmaker Danny Boyle for giving him 'a great opportunity', and the people of Mumbai. "All my life I had a choice to either hate and love, and I chose love," he said.

For the best original song category, there were nominations from just two films --two nominations for slumdog millionaire, one for Walle-E.

Before the award for best song was announced, Rahman performed O Saaya on stage, with Indian dancers in pink and drummers in pristine white, lending that distinct yet never seen before Indian touch at the Oscar performances. Next followed Down to Earth from WallE.

Resul Pookutty, who was nominated for Slumdog Millionaire along with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke, was at a loss for words when he ascended the dais to accept the award.

"This is unbelievable. I dedicate this award to my country. This is not just an award, it's history being handed down to me," said the 36 year old sound engineer, who has already won a CAS award and a Bafta earlier this year for Slumdog.

Pookutty thanked his sound mixing team, and the entire crew that helped him gain the Academy recognition.

Pookkutty, 36, did his schooling in Malayalam medium and graduated from Kayamkulam. Going against his father’s wishes, he dropped out of the law college in Thiruvananthapuram, and went on to graduate from the FTII in 1995.

Slumdog Millionaire has so far bagged six Oscars at the ongoing 81st annual Academy Awards.

For O Saaya, that was also nominated for the award, Sri Lankan born singer MIA had collaborated with Rahman. The lyrics for Jai Ho have been penned by Gulzar.

The two films are the only contenders in the best original song category, with "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (performed by Peter Gabriel) up against the "Slumdog" songs "Jai Ho" (performed by Gulzar) and "O Saya" (performed by M.I.A.).

The other best original score nominees are Alexandre Desplat for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," James Newton Howard for "Defiance" and Danny Elfman for "Milk."

MUMBAI: A R Rahman capped his winning streak for Slumdog Millionaire by winning the Best original score and Best Song Oscar awards minutes earlier.

Shortly before that, Resul Pookutty became the first Indian to get the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing for the same film, Slumdog Millionaire.

Picked out from stiff competition posed by Alexandre Desplat for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," James Newton Howard for "Defiance" and Danny Elfman for "Milk , Rahman was the picture of cool and composure as he stepped up in a black jodhpuri ensemble to collect his trophy. "The last time I felt this excited and terrified was during my marriage. I have to quote this dialogue from a Hindi film that goes, 'Mere paas maa hai...my mother's here...her belssings are with me," he quipped. After reading out the list of people he wished to thank for the award, Rahman ended his speech with a Tamil quote and then translated it for the benefit of his audience, "God is great...thank you," he ended.

Minutes later, Rahman was back on stage to accept the Best Song award for Jai Ho, again from Slumdog Millionaire.

This time, Rahman thanked the entire crew of the film again, especially filmmaker Danny Boyle for giving him 'a great opportunity', and the people of Mumbai. "All my life I had a choice to either hate and love, and I chose love," he said.

For the best original song category, there were nominations from just two films --two nominations for slumdog millionaire, one for Walle-E.

Before the award for best song was announced, Rahman performed O Saaya on stage, with Indian dancers in pink and drummers in pristine white, lending that distinct yet never seen before Indian touch at the Oscar performances. Next followed Down to Earth from WallE.

Resul Pookutty, who was nominated for Slumdog Millionaire along with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke, was at a loss for words when he ascended the dais to accept the award.

"This is unbelievable. I dedicate this award to my country. This is not just an award, it's history being handed down to me," said the 36 year old sound engineer, who has already won a CAS award and a Bafta earlier this year for Slumdog.

Pookutty thanked his sound mixing team, and the entire crew that helped him gain the Academy recognition.

Pookkutty, 36, did his schooling in Malayalam medium and graduated from

Slumdog Millionaire has so far bagged six Oscars at the ongoing 81st annual Academy Awards.

For O Saaya, that was also nominated for the award, Sri Lankan born singer MIA had collaborated with Rahman. The lyrics for Jai Ho have been penned by Gulzar.

The two films are the only contenders in the best original song category, with "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (performed by Peter Gabriel) up against the "Slumdog" songs "Jai Ho" (performed by Gulzar) and "O Saya" (performed by M.I.A.).

The other best original score nominees are Alexandre Desplat for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," James Newton Howard for "Defiance" and Danny Elfman for "Milk."