Indeed this is a moment of pride for India and for musical Mozart A R Rahman as well. Rahman has received the Oscar nominations for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Now he goes a step further. Rahman and singer Sukhwinder Singh have been invited to open the eighty first Annual Academy Awards night, scheduled for Feb 21 at Los Angeles. The duo will perform their super-hit number ‘Jai ho’.

Inside sources reveal that Rahman had called up Sukhwinder, telling him that the authorities of the Academy Awards had asked him to open the ceremony. Rahman asked Sukhwinder to prepare himself for another live performance. Nothing new in that, except, this time, it would be for the Oscars! Gulzar, who has written the song, is likely to make an appearance on the awards night too. Rahman will work on the song and modify it to set it in sync with the live orchestra and make it suitable for a stage presentation. Rahman and Sukhwinder are looking forward to it. Sukhwinder is of the opinion that the Slumdog nominations have raised India’s bar in the international market and hence, they would now have to be extra cautious about the quality of work they deliver.”

An ecstatic Sukhwinder tells, “I’m waiting for an official confirmation, till then I cannot comment on it.”