MUMBAI: The might of the marriage between Hollywood and Bollywood may have just arrived. Slumdog Millionaire, the rags-to-riches story using Indian actors and landscape, has taken home eight Oscars including that of the best picture award and the best director for Danny Boyle.

Indian musical maestro A R Rehman has scooped two Oscar awards – best original score and best soundtrack.

Slumdog, the feel-good account of a Mumbai orphan’s break away from poverty, has further picked top honours for editor Chris Dickens, cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and screenplay writer Simon Beaufoy. The Best sound mixing prize was bagged by Ian Tapp and Resul Pookutty, another Indian to represent the country on the red carpet.

Says PVR Pictures CEO Uday Singh, “Slumdog‘s win at the Oscars has opened up new avenues for Indian cinema to travel abroad. The win only suggests that if the content is right and is padded with the right mix of marketing and distribution strategies, no Indian film can be kept away from reaching out to the global audience.”

The other India-based film to capture the Oscar attention is Smile Pinki. The film, made by Megan Mylan, has won the best short documentary prize after contesting against four others in the same genre.

Congratulating the Slumdog Millionaire and Smile Pinki team for winning the prestigious Oscar Awards, the Minister of State of Information & Broadcasting and External Affairs Anand Sharma said that this is the finest hour of Indian cinema in the global scenario.

The other winners at the 81st Academy Awards include:

Best actor (male): Sean Penn for Milk

Best actor (female): Kate Winslet for The Reader

Best sound editing: Richard King for The Dark Knight

Best visual effects: Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best documentary short subject: Megan Mylan for Smile Pinki

Best documentary feature: James Marsh and Simon Chinn for Man On Wire

Best actor in a supporting role: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

Best live action short film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Best makeup: Greg Cannom for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best costume design: Michael O‘Connor for The Duchess

Best art direction: Donald Graham Burt (art direction) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best animated short film: La Maison en Petits Cubes

Best animated feature film: Wall.E

Original screenplay: Dustin Lance Black for Milk

Best actress in a supporting pole: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Chistina Barcelona

Best foreign language film: Departures (Japan)