King’s Speech sweeps Rahman chance

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David Heyman (from left), Emma Watson and J.K. Rowling pose for photographers during the Bafta film awards at the Royal Opera Ho

The British royal family’s little-known story about stammering, The King’s Speech, swept the Baftas on Sunday night, pushing out the lone Indian nominee, music composer A.R. Rahman, out of contention.
After the Bafta loss, Rahman can now rest his hopes for an Oscar for his original score in Danny Boyle-directed 127 Hours. Rahman had won a Bafta in 2009 for his music in Slumdog Millionaire, which too was directed by Boyle.
Helena Bonham Carter won the Bafta for supporting actress for The King’s Speech, Geoffrey Rush for supporting actor, David Seidler won original screenplay award, Alexandre Desplat for original music and the film also won award for outstanding British film. However, director Tom Hooper missed out on his Bafta as David Fincher won the award for The Social Network.
The best actress award went to Natalie Portman for her role of tortured ballerina in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Sir Christopher Lee, famous for his roles as Dracula, was awarded the Bafta Fellowship by American director Tim Burton and the Harry Potter films won the prestigious award for outstanding British contribution to cinema.
The Harry Potter films are the most successful franchise, having taken £3.3 billion at the box office over the last decade.