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From slum residents to filmmakers, Indians celebrated as the film Slumdog Millionaire swept eight Oscars and hoped it would bring global recognition to Indian technical talent. There was also jubilation that the Oscar for the best short documentary, won by American filmmaker Megan Mylan, was inspired by an Indian story.

It was perhaps the first time ever that some residents of Mumbai’s sprawling Dharavi slum forgot Monday morning’s grind and watched television to hear what news would emerge from the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles.

The crowd broke out in lusty cheers each time the film bagged an award, although not many residents of Dharavi were even aware of what exactly the Oscars were.

The heart of the film Slumdog Millionaire – the rags to riches story of a boy from an Indian slum – is based in Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum. Two of the children who act in the film came from Dharavi.

The Oscars received by the movie has triggered a rush of national pride across India, particularly in Mumbai – the city where India’s film industry popularly known as Bollywood is based.

The film has a British director, producer and writer. But most of the actors, crew, and locations are Indian and some won the top recognition in the world of cinema.

Music Director A.R. Rahman took two Oscars. One came for best score. He also shared the Oscar for best song, “Jai Ho” with lyricist Gulzar – also an Indian. Resul Pookutty won an Oscar for best sound mixing.

Cheering fans of music composer A.R. Rahman, who has won many national awards, are confident that the Oscars he has won will give Indian music an international identity. He is already one of world’s best-selling recording artists.

And, filmmakers are optimistic that these Oscars will turn the global spotlight on musicians, technicians and talent from Bollywood.

Bollywood filmmaker Rakeysh Mehra hopes the film will inspire talent to cross borders.

“I hope we see a lot of kind of coming together of various talents from all over the world, a lot of amalgamation and kind of collaborations, whether they are directors or technicians from out west coming here to make Indian stories or whether it is technicians and directors from here going out West to make world stories,” Mehra said.

Although the spotlight remained on Slumdog Millionaire, some people noticed that another Indian story won recognition at the Oscars. American filmmaker Megan Mylan’s short film documentary Smile Pinki is the story of a poor Indian village girl, who was ostracized because of her cleft lip, until surgery organized by a social worker transformed her life by making her a “normal girl”.

Like Slumdog Millionaire it is a story of hope and triumph, rooted in the poverty that is widespread in India. Some critics have complained that such stories reinforce Western stereotypes about India.

But, for much of the country, the Oscar ceremony brought a rush of pride.  Indians have only won two previous Oscars – one in 1982 for costume designer Bhanu Athaiya and a lifetime achievement award in 1992 for filmmaker Satyajit Ray. And, seeing stories about India and many Indians at the center stage of Hollywood’s red carpet were moments to relish.

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Mukakala Mukabula

Daschle, the former Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, withdrew earlier Tuesday as news that he failed to pay some taxes in the past continued to stir opposition on Capitol Hill.

“I think I screwed up,” Obama said in a wide-ranging interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

“And I take responsibility for it and we’re going to make sure we fix it so it doesn’t happen again.”

Daschle had apologized Monday for what he said were honest mistakes, calling them an embarrassment. The series of errors included improperly reporting $15,000 in charitable donations, failing to list $80,000 in lobbying income due to what Daschle said was a paperwork error, and not reporting as income a car and driver loaned to him by a friend and business associate.

Daschle recently filed amended tax returns and paid more than $140,000 in back taxes and interest for 2005 to 2007.

Those tax issues, as well as questions over whether work he did after his stint in the Senate amounted to lobbying, gave critics ammunition to question Obama’s call for a change of culture in Washington.

“Ultimately, I campaigned on changing Washington and bottom-up politics,” Obama said. “And I don’t want to send a message to the American people that there are two sets of standards — one for powerful people and one for ordinary folks who are working every day and paying their taxes.” Obama defended Daschle’s original appointment, saying “nobody was better-equipped to deal both with the substance and policy of health care.”

“He understands it as well as anybody, but also the politics, which is going to be required to actually get it done,” Obama said.

Earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted Daschle’s decision to withdraw was made on his own, not as a result of any prodding from the administration.

In a written statement, Daschle’s acknowledged the political problem he had created for the administration. Still, Obama insisted the mistake

Obama also said he’s going to crack down on businesses using taxpayer money to excessively pay executives. He plans a Wednesday announcement of mechanisms to keep that from happening.

“I’m going to be talking about executive compensation and changes we’re going to be making there,” he said. “We’ve now learned that people are still getting huge bonuses despite the fact that they’re getting taxpayer money, which I think infuriates the public.”

The president also spoke about the struggling economy, the use of the label “war on terror,” and lighter topics, including the family dog and his efforts to stop smoking.

Thinking about the nation’s faltering economy  keeps him up at night, Obama said. He also addressed criticism that there is too much spending in the current stimulus package bill written by House Democrats.

Look, the only measure of my success as president when people look back five years from now or nine years from now is going to be, did I get this economy fixed. I have no interest in promoting a package that doesn’t work,” obama said.

Cooper also asked Obama about reports that he is not using former President Bush’s phrase, “war on terror,” to refer to the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan.

“Words matter in this situation because one of the ways we’re going to win this struggle is through the battle of hearts and minds,” Obama said. “I think it is very important for us to recognize that we have a battle or a war against some terrorist organizations, but that those organizations aren’t representative of a broader Arab community, Muslim community

Moving on to lighter topics, the president said the first family hasn’t decided what type of dog to get, but will wait until spring.

Obama, an intermittent smoker, also said he has not smoked on the White House grounds.

“Sometimes it’s hard. But, you know, I’m sticking to it,” Obama said

Asked about the greatest lesson he’d learned about the presidency from studying about Abraham Lincoln, Obama said:

“You know, when I think about Abraham Lincoln, what I’m struck by is the fact that he constantly learned on the job. He got better. You know, he wasn’t defensive. He wasn’t arrogant about his tasks. He was very systematic in saying, ‘I’m going to master the job, and I understand it’s going to take some time.

Take an incident in the summer of 2007. A security guard stopped me as I attempted to drive through the gates of Center Staging, a rehearsal studio across the street from Burbank Airport.

“That’s odd,” I thought. “They’ve never had security before. I wonder what’s going on?”

Pretty soon, I discovered the reason for the limited access. A black BMW convertible drove up, and a baby-faced teenager jumped out of the driver’s seat. The passenger door opened, and Eddie Van Halen out walked  Everyone stopped talking and stared, including Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, who were outside taking a break from their own rehearsal.

Van Halen and the other members of the band had just announced a big reunion tour with original singer David Lee Roth at a splashy news conference in Beverly Hills, and I had inadvertently discovered where they were prepping for their journey. Eddie and his son Wolfgang — named for Mozart — greeted a couple of people in the parking lot and quickly disappeared inside the soundstage.

Moments later, the earth trembled as the loudest guitar I’ve ever heard in my life was fired up. It was like a sonic boom — only the sound wasn’t coming from the airport. It was coming from inside the soundstage. The legendary guitarist launched into the familiar intro to Van Halen’s 1978 hit, “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love.” That was followed by “Runnin’ With the Devil.”

Joss Stone ran out of her own rehearsal studio — barefoot — and begged a security guard for entry. She was turned away.

Months later, I would catch van Halen the band, during their triumphant hometown concert in Los Angeles. Little did I know that during that tour, Eddie had been road-testing a series of prototype guitars he was designing with Fender. The instrument was called “the Wolfgang,” after his son, who’s Van Halen’s current bass playerAfter years of wearing down metal frets and having pieces of his guitar rip off or malfunction during shows, Van Halen says he’s built a guitar that even he can’t destroy. On the Wolfgang, frets are fashioned of stainless steel, and metal gadgets are custom-made by a company that specializes in medical tools. Sections of wood are left unpainted so the instrument can breathe and age — “like a Stradivarius,” the 54-year-old musician explains with a degree of pride.We recently caught up with Eddie at his 5150 Studio, high in the hills above Los Angeles. It’s where the album “1984″ was recorded, along with every subsequent Van Halen record. The studio sits on seven acres, just a stone’s throw from the Tudor mansion he bought in 1980. He and his fiancee/publicist, Janie Liszewski, scoot around the property in golf carts. The red, white and black-striped motif of his signature Van Halen guitar is painted on the walkway. The following is an edited version of the interview.

The hype and hoopla surrounding Villu, prior to its release was huge. Director Prabhudeva and actor Vijay promised lots of entertainment. Unfortunately the end product is far from impressive as it is a ‘chaotic’ cocktail of comedy, action and needless stunt sequences far from any logic.

Prabhudeva is greatly impressed by Abbas – Mastan’s Bollywood hit Soldier. But in trying to remake the movie, he has far-stretched his imagination, which fails to find its way with audience’s favour.

It’s a wholesome Vijay show. The actor is at his best – be it the stunt sequence, comedy or romantic episodes. There is an aura of style in whatever he ventures to do on screen. He is as usual cool in his mannerisms. Prabhudeva portrays him an invincible one-man army who floats on water and fly on air with ease and élan. But his hard labour is foiled by wafer-thin storyline, which has no logic.

The story is as old as that of lithic age – an angry son who taking revenge on those responsible for the death of his father. Vijay enacts a dual role – that of a son and father. Prabhudeva has laced it with commercial elements including comedy and action.

The movie revolves around a macho-man Pughazh (Vijay). Thanks to the help of Joseph (Manoj K Jayan), a honest cop, Pughazh begins his search for a international gangster and arms supplier JD (Prakashraj). Meanwhile, Pughazh goes to a village to attend a wedding and comes across Jhanvi (Nayantara). After cat and mouse games, love blossoms between them. Pughazh comes to know that she is the daughter of JD. He sets to Munich in Germany to meet JD along with Jhanvi. He meets JD’s gang (Sriman, Anandhraj and Devaraj). After initial encounters, he evolves his own plans and starts eliminating them one after another.

A flashback reveals why Pughazh is behind their blood. His father ‘Major’ Saravanan (Vijay) gets killed by a gang, which is led by JD, when he prevents them from selling arms to ultras. JD and his team enact a drama and bumps off Saravanan before managing to create an impression that he was the one who had nexus with ultras and succeeds in branding him an anti-national. Eventually Pughazh manages to bring JD to India and avenge them for their wrong-deeds and establish his father’s innocence

Vijay walks away with all honours, while Nayanthara catches the imagination of the audience appearing in skimpy costumes appearing in peppy numbers with Vijay. Vadivelu tries his hand at evoking comedy and succeeds fairly especially the scenes involving Vijay, Nayantara and himself.

Prakashraj platys a clichéd don who controls international arms racket. His dialogues and acts are far too predictable. The rest of the cast including Geetha, Ranjitha, Devaraj, Anandhraj play their part on screen.

Devi Sri Prasad has come up with some peppy numbers while Raviverman’s cinematography is passable. Thanks to Fefsi Vijayan’s stunts Vijay has belied law of gravitation. The real scene-stealer is however the producers Ayangaran Internationals, who have come out with a grand venture. Almost every frame is rich and lavish.

On the whole, Vijay’s Villu is a action-packed mass masala film for his ardent fans but with loose ends