The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire sweeps the Oscar nominations with 13 and 10 nominations respectively. Although the announcements were made a little after daybreak in Los Angeles, the news broke here in India at a providential moment - when the film's Indian premiere in Mumbai was underway and several of the film's adult and child cast and crew assembled on stage, with television cameras ready to capture the whoops of joy.

A.R Rahman, with 3 nominations, sounded overwhelmed. "I was like a nervous schoolboy biting my nails," he told Times Of India. "I feel the whole world is watching me. I'm at the top of the world. Honestly, I am not even thinking about the Oscars now. Everything is a blur...It'll be a great energy booster for creative people in India." This is the first time an Indian has received three Oscar nominations. I just hope he wins all of them.

The Oscars pretty much turned in to a war with two players - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire. The thing that took me off guard was that Dark Knight failed to get nominations in almost every main category except for Heath Ledger's Joker for Best Supporting Actor. It did get eight nominations. But solely in the technical section-Achievement in Art Direction, Achievement in Cinematography, Achievement in Film Editing, Achievement in Makeup, Achievement in Sound Editing, Achievement in Sound Mixing, Achievement in Visual Effects.

Brad Pitt received his second Oscar nomination for Benjamin Button, and will go up in the Best Actor category opposite Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn(Milk) and Golden Globe winner Mickey Rourke(The Wrestler). Winslet will compete opposite two actresses from independent films, Anne Hathaway(Rachel Getting Married) and Melissa Leo (Frozen River), and two previous winners, Angelina Jolie (Changeling) and Meryl Streep(Doubt), who received her 15th nomination.

In what's usually a rare feat, all five Best Picture nominees had corresponding director nods. And the Best Animated Feature nominees were Bolt, Kung Fu Panda and WALL-E (which received six nominations overall, including original screenplay).

The whole list of nominees are :

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

DIRECTOR
David Fincher
Ron Howard
Gus Van Sant
Stephen Daldry
Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin - In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Andrew Stanton - WALL-E

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord - Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
David Hare - The Reader
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

ANIMATED
Bolt
Kung Fun Panda
WALL-E