Los Angeles, February 1
Music maestro A R Rahman continued his winning spree by striking double gold at the 52nd Grammy Awards here but two other Indian hopefuls Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Zakir Hussain lost out.

Rahman, 44, registered an early win in both the categories he was nominated for, the ‘Best Compilation Soundtrack for a Motion Picture’ category and in the ‘Best Motion Picture Song’ for ‘Jai Ho’. He shares the award with lyricist Gulzar and Tanvi Shah, who penned the Spanish lyrics of the international hit. Sarod maestro Amjad Ali, who was nominated in the Best Traditional World Music Album category for his album ‘Ancient Sounds’, lost out to Douga Mansa by Mamadou Diabate. Tabla maestro Hussain, who had won a Grammy last year, was nominated in the ‘Best Classical Crossover Album’ category for his album ‘The Melody of Rhythm’, failed to register a win this year.

But it was a golden moment for Rahman. His win was reminiscent of the victory at the Oscars last year where the ‘Mozart of Madras’ had bagged two Academy awards for his composition in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ besides winning a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award. “This is insane, God is great again,” an elated Rahman said while accepting the golden gramophones at the Staples Centre here. The composer also thanked his friends and family members after his historical win. "Hey guys in India... We got two Grammys again and God bless you all," Rahman said.

Rahman beat Steve Jordan for ‘Cadillac Records’, Quentin Tarantino for ‘Inglourious Basterds’, the producers of ‘Twilight’ and ‘True Blood’ to bag the award in the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture category. — PTI