Nitish Kumar goes to watch Slumdog on a cycle-rickshaw

Patna, Mar 5 (ANI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Thursday, went to watch 'Slumdog Millionare', the Oscar winning rags-to-riches movie, on a cycle-rickshaw.

Kumar, however, claims that it was no publicity stunt and the decision was his personal choice.

After watching the movie with great interest, Kumar appreciated it saying that the film would spread a positive message especially among the poor people of the country, which would encourage them to achieve something in life.

"The film is good from all aspects. It can be termed as an excellent film. I am really happy to watch this film. I would say I utilised my time. After watching this movie, everyone would confident that even if one is born and brought up in poverty, still one can achieve something in life through hard work," said Kumar.

Slumdog Millionaire swept the Oscars, winning eight awards including the award for 'Best Picture'.

It also earned Oscars for best director (Danny Boyle), best-adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), best cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, original score by composer A.R. Rahman and best song for "Jai Ho".

Only seven other films have won eight or more awards in the Oscar history.

Aiming to spice up its election campaign, Congress party has bought the rights of the song "Jai Ho", one of the songs in the film which got an Oscar for A.R. Rahman for his music composition.

The opposition parties have described the latest Congress move as an election gimmick.

Kumar mocked the Congress saying that song will boomerang on it and would result in the party's defeat instead.

"I was wondering what has happened to Congress party...... why are they saying 'Jai ho'? What struggle have they done in life? Apart from few years, Congress was in rule always. And even after 60 years, slums are still there and people are living a hard life there. I believe "Jai ho" would be boomerang for Congress party. And this 'jai ho' would result in their defeat," said Kumar.

The Congress, on the other hand, claim that the party fought for the independence of the country, consolidated it and during the last five years took steps to fight terrorism and improve the life of the people.

India will hold a general election between April 16 and May 13 in a mammoth logistical exercise in which 714 million people will cast their votes. (ANI)