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Oscar bravo for Slumdog Millionaire

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Amar Singh|Louise Jury|Rashid Razaq
13 April 2012

Slumdog Millionaire and Kate Winslet led a night of British triumphs at the Academy Awards.

Winslet finally won the best actress Oscar for The Reader, claiming the coveted award on her sixth nomination.

Slumdog Millionaire became one of the 10 most successful films ever at the prestigious ceremony, winning eight Oscars including best picture and best director for Danny Boyle.

Boyle, 52, bounced up and down in delight.
Explaining his energetic performance to the audience at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, he said: "My kids are too young to remember this,
but I swore that if this miracle ever happened, I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, so that's what that was about."

The story of an orphan from the Mumbai slums who wins the Indian version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? was the night's runaway winner.

In addition to the best director and best picture awards, it also scooped Oscars for best adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, best original score and best song.

The Oscar sweep capped off a remarkable run of awards for Slumdog Millionaire — a film that was heading straight to DVD in America last year after its distributor closed down.

The low-budget movie, which features a cast largely made up of first time Indian actors in addition to London teenager Dev Patel, became the most successful British film at the Oscars since The English Patient won nine in 1997.

Accepting the best picture Oscar, producer Christian Colson was joined on stage by the giant Slumdog Millionaire team, including child actors who were flown over for the glittering ceremony.
The evening also belonged to Kate Winslet, 33, who delivered a composed speech, ensuring there was no repeat of her gushing performance at the Golden Globes earlier this year.

Clutching her Oscar, the Reading-born star said she had been rehearsing the moment for many years.

"I'd be lying if I hadn't made a version of this speech before," she went on. "I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror.

"And this [holding up her statuette] would've been a shampoo bottle. Well, it's not a shampoo bottle now." She also thanked her friends and family, "especially my mum and dad, who are in this room somewhere. Dad, whistle or something, 'cause then I'll know where you are. [He whistles.] Yeah — I love you."

She paid tribute to the late Anthony Minghella and Sidney Pollack, both producers on The Reader who died while it was being made, and called her fellow nominees "goddesses".

Speaking backstage, Winslet said she was going to go and get "very drunk", adding: "I feel like an unlikely hero. I was not the privileged kid things like this could happen to."

The big upset of the night saw Sean Penn, 48, take the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of America's first openly gay politician Harvey Milk. Mickey Rourke had been favourite to win the award for his comeback in The Wrestler. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor for The Dark Knight.

Penélope Cruz, 34, became the first Spanish woman to win an Oscar for acting, picking up the best supporting actress award for her portrayal of a tempestuous artist in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

The Oscar for best documentary feature went to Man On Wire — a British film about tightrope walker Philippe Petit. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, which led the field with 13 nominations, won only three Oscars, all in technical categories.

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Slumdog Millionaire