While Norah Jones swept the Grammys, Asif Kapadia's The Warrior won two awards at the 54th British Film And Television Awards ceremony held at Central London's Leicester Square on the night of February 23.
After being left out in the cold for the Oscars, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas also failed in the BAFTA Foreign Film category.
Rejected an Oscar consideration, The Warrior, which was shot mostly in Rajasthan, was adjudged Best British Film, outclassing four other films, including Gurinder Chaddha's Bend It Like Beckham. Kapadia also got the Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement in First Feature Film category.
The Warrior tells the tale of a warrior in Rajasthan who renounces violence to seek peace in the Himalayas. Before that, he has to deal with the wrath of a warlord who wants him to remain a warrior. The film was made with less than $1 million.
Kapadia was earlier adjudged Most Promising Newcomer at the Evening Standard Film Awards held recently. Describing his awards as "amazing" Kapadia, of Indian Gujarati ancestry, said, "I have no idea what to say. A lot of people trusted me."
Turning to Sir Richard, who presented him with the Carl Foreman Award, he said, "It is going to be hard to make the second one."
Kapadia's success is all the more poignant because of his recent experience at the hands of the Oscar judges committee. They refused to nominate The Warrior in the Best Foreign Film category because they said Hindi was not representative of the languages spoken in the UK.
Roman Polanski's The Pianist, which won six awards at Cesars, France's annual film ceremony, took the Best Picture and Best Director Award. It beat more fancied contenders like the musical Chicago and the epic Gangs Of New York (12 nominations) and The Hours (11 nominations).
Pedro Almodovar won Best Foreign Film and Best Original Screenplay for Talk To Her.
Nicole Kidman scooped the Best Actress Award for her role as Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry's The Hours. 'It's so lovely to share this award with two very special women,' Kidman said of her costars Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep, also nominated for their roles in the movie. 'I'll divide this between the three of us.'
Veteran actor Daniel Day-Lewis spearheaded the British charge, winning Best Actor for his acclaimed role as Bill the Butcher in Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York, the only award given to the film. Catherine Zeta-Jones got the Best Supporting Actress Award for her role as Velma Kelly in Chicago.
Chicago also won Best Sound, while The Hours took Best Music, with its score specially written by Philip Glass.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers took three awards, including the Orange Award for Best Film and Special Visual Effects.
