Academy Awards 2017: India’s AR Rahman misses Oscar nomination

AR Rahman, the Mozart of Madras, who had won two Oscars in 2009, stood a chance at two nominations for his work for ‘Pele: Birth of a Legend’, a biographical film about the early life of Brazilian footballer Pelé.

Los Angeles: India's Oscar-winning music maestro AR Rahman on Tuesday was out of the race for the 89th Academy Awards. His name did not feature as part of the final nomination list for the gala.

The Mozart of Madras, who had won two Oscars in 2009, stood a chance at two nominations for his work for ‘Pele: Birth of a Legend’, a biographical film about the early life of Brazilian footballer Pelé.

Rahman's name featured in an initial list of 145 scores in contention for a nomination in the Original Score category.

Also, ‘Ginga’, his acclaimed number from the 2016 biographical film, was part of a long list of 91 songs competing for a spot in the final nominations for the Original Song category.

The nominations were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences here.

Among the nominees in the Best Original Score category are Mica Levi (‘Jackie’), Justin Hurwitz (‘La La Land’), Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka (‘Lion’), Nicholas Britell (‘Moonlight’) and Thomas Newman (‘Passengers’).

Those vying for the Best Music (Original Song) trophy are ‘Audition (The Fools Who Dream’) and ‘City of stars’ from ‘La La Land’, ‘Can't stop the feeling’ from ‘Trolls’; ‘The Empty Chair’ from ‘Jim: The James Foley Story’ and ‘How far I'll go’ from ‘Moana’.

The awards ceremony will be held on February 26 at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood.

Rahman had earlier made India proud with his twin win at the Academy Awards platform for Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire". He was lauded for his Best Original Score as also the Best Original Song "Jai ho" from the same film, with lyrics by Gulzar.

In 2011, Rahman received two nominations for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards for his original score in Boyle's "127 Hours" as well as original song "If I rise" for the same movie. But he did not bring the golden statuette home.

In 2014, Rahman's work in Hollywood movies like ‘Million Dollar Arm’ and ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’ and Indian film ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ was also among the contenders.