While Slumdog Millionaire picked up seven BAFTA awards in a ceremony in London, the Indian presence was also felt at the Grammy awards with tabla maestro Zakir Hussain winning in the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album Global Drum Project.
Hussain worked with Mickey Hart of the rock band Grateful Dead, Nigerian percussionist Sikiru Adepoju and Puerto Rican jazz percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo for the album.
"Global Drum Project is the second collaboration between Hart and Hussain after their compilation Planet Drum, which was released in 1991 and went on to win the first ever Grammy Award in the World Music category.
But the other Indian Grammy hopefuls, slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya and classical vocalist Lakshmi Shankar, who were nominated in the Best Traditional World Music category, were disappointed as they lost out to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African acappella singing group.
The ceremony this year was high on drama as a tearful Jennifer Hudson remembered her slain family while accepting her first Grammy. It has been a major comeback for the singer whose mother, brother and nephew were murdered last October.
