It’s a big day for Martin Scorsese as he was showered with four Oscars for his crime thriller ‘The Departed,’ including best picture, director, screenplay and editing at the 79th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday evening at the Kodak Theatre. Scorsese won first Oscar for his eighth nomination. With his emotional outburst he said, ‘Could you check the envelope?’ And he cracked while picking up the award, after being denied in previous seven nominations.

Following Scorsese, Forest Whitaker, who scooped his first Oscar as the best actor for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in ‘The Last King of Scotland,’ came breathless on the stage to embrace his award.

Helen Mirren won Oscar for best actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Queen,’ which was one of the least-surprising declarations of the 79th Academy Awards’ evening.

The former ‘American Idol’ contestant Jennifer Hudson also adds a new title: Oscar winner, to her career. Hudson took home the best supporting actress award for her role as ‘Effie’ in the ‘Dreamgirls.’

The 72-year old veteran actor Alan Arkin bagged the first Oscar of his career for his role as a drug-snorting grandpa in the ‘Little Miss Sunshine.’ Prior to this, Arkin was first nominated for an Oscar in 1996 for his lead role in ‘The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.’

With the ongoing dream night, Guillermo Del Toro’s Mexican gothic fantasy ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ took three Oscars. It scooped best art direction, makeup and best cinematography awards and is the only film so far with multiple awards.

Others who grabbed the trophy

• Achievement in Visual Effects: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

• Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Happy Feet

• Best Live Action Short Film: West Bank Story

• Best Animated Short Film: The Danish Poet

• Achievement in Costume Design: Marie Antoinette

• Achievement in Makeup: Pan’s Labyrinth

• Best Documentary Short Subject: The Blood Of Yingzhou District

• Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth

• Achievement in Art Direction: Pan’s Labyrinth

• Achievement in Music Written for Motion
Pictures (Original Score): Babel

• Achievement in Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls

• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song): An Inconvenient Truth

• Achievement in Sound Editing: Letters From Iwo Jima

• Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: The Lives Of Others

• Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine

Read