While, the 81st Academy Award nominees have yet to be announced, Mumbai based 'Slumdog Millionaire', after its triumph at the Golden Globes, is expected to be in the fore front at the Oscars.

As are, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, the double Globes winners who are widely tipped for being nominated in the acting categories.

Forest Whitaker, who also has an Oscar to his credit, is slated to unveil the nominations at 0530 Los Angeles time (1330 GMT).

'Slumdog Millionaire', set in Mumbai and named best film, with Danny Boyle winning the Best Director at the Golden Globes, earlier this month, also rated high in the Bafta nominations, with newcomer Dev Patel, whose only acting experience has been in 'Skins', a teen drama series, collecting 11-nods including Best Actor.

However, at the Oscars, 'Slumdog Millionaire' faces competition for the Best Picture from releases, such as, 'Frost/Nixon', 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', 'Milk' and 'The Wrestler'.

In the shortlist, we could see Rourke (The Wrestler), who in a career high, won a Golden Globe for his role in the film, and is also in the running for the Screen Actor's Guild awards to be held on 23rd January, Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Sean Penn (Milk) nominated for an Oscar for the Best Actor.

Once again, Kate Winslet, who despite five nominations, has yet to win an Oscar, is strongly tipped to be short-listed in the Best Actress category for her roles in 'Revolutionary Road' and 'The Reader', joined by Oscar winning actresses Meryl Streep (Doubt), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler) and Angelina Jolie for (Changeling), actresses who have all won at .

Oscar winners are to be announced on 22nd February at Los Angeles .