An Oscar, at last !

From a subtle Dillip to Alla Rakha Rahman, from Jingles to Roja to an awe-inspiring ensemble at the Kodak Theatre, sure has AR Rahman come a long way to hold the much-coveted, if not one, two oscars on his hand. Given our passion towards anything Western, there had been various futile attempts at the Oscars for an Indian, be it from the Satyajit Ray times, Water, Lagaan, and for whatever reasons - to lack of familiarity of the local language or a good marketing theme - no one individual on their own merit could hold that statuette till now. No wonder the media, both video and print, spent a good amount of space to cover the achievement.

Call it a poverty-porn and you could argue that we still needed a portrayal of the typical Indian dichotomy of slums and new age uprising to win the stamp of approval from the West. I still believe the West is not yet ready to acclaim an Asian encore on its true merits, primarily their prejudices to blame.

So, who lead us to the final destination? Did we really need a Danny Boyle and his well-orchestrated marketing machinery, to take us to the ultimate destination or a typical ARR would have made it on his own merit?

Definitely, there are much better singles that have come out of ARR's repertoire than Jai Ho! It is just that, being at the right time at the right place with the right people made a big difference for this unassuming individual. I would definitely rate Ilaiyaraja's tunes in Hey Ram or Anbe Sivam above a Jai Ho. And so would I rate a Chinna Chinna Asai or a Konjam Nillavu or a Nenjinilae of ARR, above a O Saya.

As was widely claimed, it was India's day at the Oscars and never would Hollywood have seen so many Indian faces or its contributions put to enthral what would typically be a show for a western audience. What more was also at display was, the humility and simplicity of this man, while walking the red carpet with his wife or while giving his acceptance speech, that was more obviously less plastic compared to the unrestrained clamor of the others.

If this event marked the arrival of India in a bigger scene, to me, that humility and less extravagance would what keep us right there. It does not matter how high you get or how West you venture out, still there is some fundamental Indianess that would help us firmly footed on the ground!

Kudos to ARR and hope he takes the Indian Music to far-reaching heights.