A R Rahman on Oscar nominations

'I was very surprised with the three Oscar nominations for Slumdog'

'I was very surprised with the three Oscar nominations for Slumdog' To say that A R Rahman has had a busy day is nothing new but he had an  extraordinarily hectic day on Saturday last week. In between giving the finishing touches to the score for Delhi-6 and  taking in over a dozen congratulatory messages following  three Oscar nominations for his work in Slumdog Millionaire,  he was also getting ready to fly to Los Angeles to join fellow Oscar  nominees at a formal dinner. The following interview with rediff.com's  Arthur J Pais was conducted in his Chennai office. How did you hear about your Oscar nominations? I watched the live announcements on TV. You know they announce on  TV just a few nominations including the best picture, director, script  and the actors. The announcements were over and I switched off the  TV and got ready for another working day at my studio in Chennai. Just then I got a call from my agent in Hollywood, and I heard him say  something about three nominations for Slumdog Millionaire. And I told  him, Yes, I watched the TV and I know the film has received three  nominations. He then said, you have received three nominations and  in all the film had received 10. You surely were expecting the nominations, weren't you? I did not think seriously about the prospects. I am like the film's  director Danny Boyle. You do your work and hope things work out  well. Frankly speaking, I was very surprised that I got three nominations,  two of them going for the songs. Some of my songs in Water and Rang De  Basanti have made to the short list, and yet I was very surprised with  the three nominations for Slumdog in two categories. Why were you surprised? I knew Jai Ho was a hit. I had heard about people cheering the song  wherever the film has been shown. I though it would be okay to push  for one song (for nominations) but MIA (who joined him in writing  and singing O Saya) thought we should push that song too. And she  proved to be absolutely right.

TATA the Great

Ratan Naval Tata (born December 28, 1937, in Mumbai) is the present Chairman of the Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate founded by Jamsedji Tata and consolidated and expanded by later generations of his family.

In 1971, Ratan was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco), a company that was in dire financial difficulty. Ratan suggested that the company invest in developing high-technology products, rather than in consumer electronics. J.R.D. was reluctant due to the historical financial performance of Nelco which had never even paid regulardividends. Further, Nelco had 2% market share in the consumer electronics market and a loss margin of 40% of sales when Ratan took over. Nonetheless, J. R. D. followed Ratan's suggestions.

From 1972 to 1975, Nelco eventually grew to have a market share of 20%, and recovered its losses. In 1975 however, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, which led to an economic recession. This was followed by union problems in 1977, so even after demand improved, production did not keep up. Finally, the Tatas confronted the unions and, following a strike, alockout was imposed for seven months. Ratan continued to believe in the fundamental soundness of Nelco, but the venture did not survive.

In 1977, Ratan was entrusted with Empress Mills, a textile mill controlled by the Tatas. When he took charge of the company, it was one of the few sick units in the Tata group. Ratan managed to turn it around and even declared a dividend. However, competition from less labour-intensive enterprises had made a number of companies unviable, including those like the Empress which had large labour contingents and had spent too little on modernisation. On Ratan's insistence, some investment was made, but it did not suffice. As the market for coarse and medium cotton cloth (which was all that the Empress produced) turned adverse, the Empress began to accumulate heavier losses.Bombay House, the Tata headquarters, was unwilling to divert funds from other group companies into an undertaking which would need to be nursed for a long time. So, some Tata directors, chiefly Nani Palkhivala, took the line that the Tatas should liquidate the mill, which was finally closed down in 1986. Ratan was severely disappointed with the decision, and in a later interview with the Hindustan Times would claim that the Empress had needed just Rs 50 lakhs to turn it around.

In 1981, Ratan was named Chairman of Tata Industries, the Group's other holding company, where he became responsible for transforming it into the Group's strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high-technology businesses.

In 1991, he took over as group chairman from J.R.D. Tata, pushing out the old guard and ushering in younger managers. Since then, he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the Tata Group, which today has the largest market capitalization of any business house on the Indian Stock Market.

Under Ratan's guidance, Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors introduced his brainchild, the Tata Indica.

On January 31, 2007, under the chairmanship of Ratan Tata, Tata Sons successfully acquired Corus Group, an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminum producer. With the acquisition, Ratan Tata became a celebrated personality in Indian corporate business culture. The merger created the fifth largest steel producing entity in the world.

Ratan Tata's dream was to manufacture a car costing Rs 100,000 (1998: approx. US$2,200; today US$2,528). He realized his dream by launching the car in New Delhi Auto Expo on January 10, 2008. Three models of the Tata Nano were announced, and Ratan Tata delivered on his commitment to developing a car costing only 1 lakh rupees, adding that "a promise is a promise," referring to his earlier promise to deliver this car at the said cost.Recently when his plant for Nano production was obstructed by Mamta Banerjee(plant was shut down for 2 weeks,its first car for use in the market will be delayed by a couple of weeks), his decision of going out of West Bengal was warmly welcomed.This would affect the image of West Bengal in rest of India and abroad as well.Although, Industrialization in West Bengal is only supported by CM Budhadeb Bhattacharjee.The final decision is yet to come.

On March 26, 2008, Tata Motors under Ratan Tata bought over Jaguar & Land Rover from Ford Motor Company. The icons of Bband chodury, Jaguar and Land Rover were acquired for £1.15 billion ($2.3 billion).

India Super Power

Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relationships with most nations. It took a leading role in the 1950s by advocating the independence of European colonies in Africa and Asia.^[55] India is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement.^[56] After the Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, India's relationship with the Soviet Union warmed at the expense of ties with the United States and continued to remain so until the end of the Cold War. India has fought three wars with Pakistan, primarily over Kashmir. Additional skirmishes have taken place between the two nations particularly in 1984 over Siachen Glacier and in 1999 over Kargil.

In recent years, relationsbetween the United States and India have improved. Shown here are PMManmohan Singh and PresidentGeorge W. Bush exchanging handshakes in March, 2006.

In recent years, India has played an influential role in the ASEAN^[57], SAARC, and the WTO.^[58] India is a founding member and long time supporter of the United Nations, with over 55,000 Indian military and police personnel having served in thirty-five UN peace keeping operations deployed across four continents.^[59] Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has consistently refused to sign the CTBT and the NPT, preferring instead to maintain sovereignty over its nuclear program. Recent overtures by the Indian government have strengthened relations with the United States, China, and Pakistan. In the economic sphere, India has close relationships with other developing nations in South America, Asia, and Africa.

India maintains the third largest military force in the world, which consists of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force.^[9] Auxiliary forces such as theParamilitary Forces, the Coast Guard, and the Strategic Forces Command also come under the military's purview. The President of India is the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces. India became a nuclear power in 1974 after conducting an initial nuclear test, Operation Smiling Buddha. Further underground testing in 1998 led to international military sanctions against India, that was gradually withdrawn after September 2001. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy.^[60]