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Bollywood came to Hollywood last night, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sent the latest in a growing line of underdog movies to the top of the heap, giving the low-budget Dickensian Mumbai drama Slumdog Millionaire eight awards including best picture, director and adapted screenplay.

The awards came on a night that the Academy made a pitch for the masses, shrugging off criticism that it ignored popular movies in its list of nominees by emphasizing the commercial offerings that make up the bulk of moviegoers' diet.

The 81st annual Oscars at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles included a song-and-dance number featuring the stars of Disney's money-spinning phenom High School Musical, film montages with clips from non-Oscar fare such as Space Chimps and Sex and the City, and frequent references to last year's box-office champ The Dark Knight. Producers had spoken of the need to court viewers who had fled the broadcast in recent years.

Presenting a quartet of awards, Will Smith joked, "I love action movies. I happen to love movies that have car chases and explosions, and excitement and - what's the word I'm looking for? Oh! Fans."

The broadcast used host Hugh Jackman sparingly but effectively, mainly as a song-and-dance man in a pair of variety numbers.

And it served up plenty of memorable moments, both comical and sentimental. When the late Heath Ledger won best-supporting actor for his turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, prompting a standing ovation, his parents and sister accepted the award on his behalf.

Winning the best-actor honours for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay California politician, Sean Penn criticized those who voted against Proposition 8 last year, which banned gay marriage in the state. Earlier, the film's screenwriter Dustin Lance Black thanked his mother for her acceptance of his sexuality, and promised homosexual young men and women that, "very soon you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours."

The show proved much looser than recent Oscars. When Kate Winslet won for best actress for her turn as an illiterate concentration-camp guard in The Reader, she asked her father to whistle so she could locate him in the auditorium, which he did. A previously taped segment on the year's comedies with James Franco and Canadian actor Seth Rogen turned loopy when, mimicking a moment from The Wrestler, Mr. Franco staple-gunned a dollar bill to Mr. Rogen's cheek.

*****

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

The full list of winners can be found on the official Oscars web site.