The UK film, Slumdog Millionaire, has won the top prize at the Academy Awards, winning eight Oscars early Monday, including best director, best picture and two for the film's Indian composer AR Rahman, the BBC reported.

The film, set in the slums of Mumbai, won eight awards in total, including gongs for best adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, best original score and best song.

Director Danny Boyle, 52, bounced up and down in delight as he received his award, telling the audience: "I swore [to my children] if this miracle ever happened I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger."

"There are certain places in the universe you never imagine standing. For me, it's the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium and here," joked the film's British screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, previously best known for writing The Full Monty.

Indian composer AR Rahman, who received two Oscars - for best song and best score - praised the city which inspired the book, and subsequently the film.

He hailed "all the people from Mumbai and the essence of the film, which is about optimism and the power of hope and our lives".

Elsewhere, Kate Winslet won the best actress Oscar for The Reader, finally clinching the award on her sixth nomination and Sean Penn won best actor for his role as gay rights activist Harvey Milk in Mystic River.

Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for supporting actor for The Dark Knight. The actor's family received the award on behalf of Ledger, who died in January 2008.