From Parliament to jails in Tamil Nadu, the euphoria generated by the success of Slumdog Millionaire for which Indians won three Oscars on Tuesday, rubbed off on everyone with even speaker Somnath Chaterjee unable to resist humming AR Rahman's award winning song Jai Ho.
A day after the rags to riches film scooped eight Oscars, Parliament hailed the success saying the "historic achievement" of three Indians winning Academy Awards is a global acknowledgment of the excellence of Indian artistes.
Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari and Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee led their respective Houses in paying rich tributes to AR Rahaman, Gulzar and Resul Pookutty for bringing laurels to the country.
As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, Chatterjee made a statement congratulating the awardees and the entire teams of Slumdog as well as Smile Pinki, a short documentary based on the life of a cleft-lip affected Indian girl that bagged an Oscar.
Chatterjee could not help humming the Jai Ho tune at the end of his statement bringing cheers in the House.
In Tamil Nadu from where Rahman hails, the Jai Ho tunes were played across the jails in the state with DGP (Prisons) R Nataraj saying the inmates were "really overjoyed." The prisoners also enthusiastically gave a rendition of the foot-tapping number.
The Jai Ho effect was felt at a BJP function in Mumbai where the song was played when Advani was felicitated with a silver conch and a bronze statue of Shivaji Maharaj.
"After the 26/11 terror attacks, Mumbai, the commercial and entertainment capital of India is once again in global focus. But this time, it is for a happy moment," Advani, a film buff himself, said speaking at the function where he was given a cheque of Rs 11 crore towards the party's election campaign fund. "Its global success is an important landmark in the history of Indian cinema."
In the Lok Sabha, Chatterjee said, "It is a matter of immense pride for us that the film Slumdog Millionaire has won eight Oscars including the award for the best picture."
This "historic achievement" has "warmed the hearts of every Indian," Chatterjee said.
"The nation is proud of their achievement and it is clear acknowledgment by the international community of the high degree of excellence achieved by Indian artistes."
"Equally exhilarating" is bagging of an Oscar by Smile Pinki, based on Indian background," he said.
Amid a debate over whether the country should go overboard for a film made by a Britisher getting Oscar laurels, home minister P Chidambaram said it won't be "very long" for a movie made by an Indian to get global cinema's highest recognition.
"Slumdog Millionaire may not be an Indian film. But a nation of billion people adopted it as an Indian film.
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