Rahman, 44, also has also been nominated in the category of ‘Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media’ for the film Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle.

The song Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino has been included in the ‘Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media’ category.

Besides the two Oscar Awards for ‘Best Song’ and ‘Best Original Score’ for Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman had won the prestigious award for the ‘Best Music Director’ of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

This is the first time that A R Rahman has been nominated for the Grammy Awards, which is the world’s highest honour for music and also acclaimed as the music Oscar.

Rahman has got nomination for the Grammy Awards along with the legendary Bruce Springsteen for his song The Wrestler for the movie with the same title; a song titled The Climb from the film Hannah Montana: The Movie; and a song from the hit vampire movie Twilight.

At present, A R Rahman is in Los Angeles, where he is working on his latest cross-cultural movie titled Street Dancing, along with David A Stewart, another winner of the Golden Globe Award.

In terms of the number of Grammy Awards nominations, pop star Beyoncé leads, with 10 nominations – followed by Country singer, with 8 nominations. Black Eyed Peas, along with Kanye West and Maxwell, picked up 6 nominations each; while Jay-Z and DJ David Guetta collected 5 Grammy nominations, along with Lady Gaga.

The Grammy Awards is to be held on January 31, 2010, at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.

Zeb and Haniya's album Chup's cover

The duo from Kohat, Pakistan, who sing in Urdu with snatches of Pashto and Persian, will perform in India.

The first album of Zebunnisa Bangash and Haniya Aslam is Chup, that was released in 2008.

Haniya Aslam said, “Our visas expire in November, So despite being down with flu, we decided to come to India. I’ve been to Mumbai in the past but it is Zeb’s first visit.”

It would be interesting to see how the two fare in India. This will be the first time Pakistan female pop singers will perform in India, after Nazia Hassan, who became very popular in India, courtesy albums like Disco Deewane and the 1980 hit  Aap Jaisa Koi from the movie Qurbani.

But that was before Pakistani artistes were discouraged from performing in India. Nazia Hassan and brother Zoheb Hassan were probably more popular and influential in India than in Pakistan.

Now even Indian pop singers are struggling to find a footing in the music scene in India.

Talking about Nazia Hassan, Haniya was quoted as saying,  “We’ve heard her songs in our childhood. She managed to create an avant garde kind of  music for her time. If we manage only one quarter of what she did, we’ll be happy.’’

Haniya Aslam and Zebunissa Bangash are cousins. The two started playing together since they were six years old, but decided to take the plunge professionally when they were in college in the US.

The duo have won the Best Live Act Award at MTV Music Awards in 2009.

AR Rahman to host the Big Band reality show

“There is a huge audience of people who look beyond the typical Bollywood music. Music talents cutting across regions, languages, genres will be performing on the show. Considering the excellent reach of Doordarshan, we will launch the show soon on Doordarshan,” Phat Phish chairman Anand Surapur was quoted as saying at the promotion of the show.

Bands from seven countries will participate in the The Big Band reality show – India, Nepal, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

At the promotion of the Big Band reality show, AR Rahman said, “We have seen so many reality shows on the television. But what makes it different is that the show is not all about India alone, we have the idea of providing a common platform for all these guys from various places.”

“The Big Band is a unique stage that will give local bands a chance to dive deep into their true artistic depth and create original music, which transcends language and that is universally accessible. We want to present to India and the world at large the story behind what forms and binds a band and how they can be mentored to become world class talent,” he added.

The winner of The Big Band Show will get a three-year recording contract with Phat Phish Records, apart from Rs 10 million in cash, and artist management up to three albums and six music videos, and national as well as international tours and concerts.

Conditions for qualifying for the Big Band reality show

Bands can send their entries, across genres, for The Big Band reality show.

The bands that will take part in The Big Band reality show will need to have 2 – 10 members with at least one lead singer.

To qualify, the participating bands must submit three tunes. The first tune will need to be an original interpretation of a popular folk, regional, or Bollywood song.

The second tune will have to be an interpretation of a melody composed by AR Rahman specially for The Big Band show. The melody will be released on October 24, 2008.

The third tune that the bands participating in The Big Band Show must submit, should be an original composition.

The competing bands that are short listed will be called to take part in the first audition stage where they will be given a choice of three tunes by the judges, one of which they will have to perform.

The format of the Big Band reality show

The Big Band reality show will showcase Rahman’s travel through 15 states in India, scouring for original talent. The reality show series aims to find a few bands from across the sub-continent and nurture talent across different genres.

The Big Band reality show will also showcase the lives of the participating band members.

In another departure from typical reality shows, the Big Band show will do away with the SMS voting format and guest Celebrity judges, inviting laypersons like homemakers and young people to judge the show.

The Big Band show will be aired in the prime time slot by Doordarshan.

Applicants can log on to phatphishrecords.com to send in their entries. The last date for submitting applications is November 15, 2008.

Phat Phish has earlier launched artists like Rabbi, Avial and Da Saz, known for their distinctive music.