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It is often said that winning a - or several - is a good indication of success with that other more coveted golden statuette, the Oscar. The chances that Kate Winslet will defy that cruel American interviewer, who asked her how she would feel about being the most nominated Oscar loser, have just gone up, as

And though Danny Boyle's was seen as a maverick outsider, that it won in every category it was nominated in, makes it the film to beat come . However, bear in mind the following fact: over the past four years, none of the Globes' best picture winners has gone on to win the Academy Award.

, he felt that the setting for the story in India was a world so removed from the American Academy, and he wondered shyly if the film would do well in terms of awards. But later in the interview, he put his finger on it when he said it was really a Rocky story and perhaps that is why it has captured the imagination of Americans audiences.

I suspect that the Academy are a sentimental bunch and, this year, Slumdog may be the exception and take the Oscar for best picture. Watching snippets of the Golden Globe ceremony, I thought how strange it must be being an A-list actor nominated for awards: it's where your acting skills have to be at their best.

You have to prepare your face for winning and not look too sore if you lose, and in fact be actively pleased for the winner, even though you are masking terrible disappointment that it wasn't you. And such is the broad appeal of these awards, televised for a gobal audience and then reported in newspapers, magazines and on news bulletins, that your every twitch, smile and demeanour is there for everyone to see and judge.

It's all frothy fun, but of course it's also big business. Winning awards gives any film a huge boost and producers and studios work very hard to persuade those with voting rights in all these ceremonies that their films are the ones to back.

Amidst the business and red carpet revelry, I always feel that awards for works of art are a nonsense. How is it ever possible to judge "the best" in such an endeavour? Of course, it's not, but even I must acknowledge a warm feeling of watching Winslet overcome with emotion.

she won for, and , it mattered to her so much that she might win for playing characters which are once in a lifetime experiences. And if more people are exposed to otherwise serious films, then that can only be good for cinema.

Two other wins at the Globes made me smile from ear to ear: the Israeli director, Ari Folman, for his staggering meditation on the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in the animation film, , (best foreign language film) based on his memories as an officer in the Israeli army and A R Rahman, otherwise known as the Mozart of Madras, who won for best original score for Slumdog Millionaire. A genius and a gentleman, who deserves the wider recognition this award will bring.