This song from “Slumdog Millionaire” won the award in the “best original song written for film” category at the ninth World Soundtrack Awards announced at Ghent. The ceremony, in addition to Rahman, was reportedly attended by world film music personalities like Alexandre Desplat, Marvin Hamlisch, Reinhold Heil, Johhny Klimek, Alti Ovarsson, Jérôme Lemmonier and Andrew Lockington.

 

Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, has applauded Rahman for creating a bridge between the music of east and west and for strengthening the worldwide market and stature of Indian music. Zed, who is the chairperson of the Indo-American Leadership Confederation, in a statement in Nevada on Friday, October 23, urged Rahman to help nourish the next generation with the richness of Indian music, elements of whose theory were first found in ancient Hindu scripture Sama-Veda.

 

The music for “Jai ho” was composed by Rahman on Gulzar and Tanvi Shah's lyrics and performed by Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaksmi Iyver and Vijay Prakash.

 

Rahman, who has reportedly recorded sales of over 300 million, was called the “Mozart of Madras'' by Time magazine. Rahman sees music “as a way to connect to spirituality and embrace it” and for “creating harmony in troubled times”.

 

The World Soundtrack Awards are distributed annually for outstanding achievements in scoring music for motion pictures and other achievements in five categories. The academy is aimed at organising and overseeing the educational, cultural and professional aspects of the art of film music, including the preservation of the history of the soundtrack and its worldwide promotion.