Anasuya Sengupta at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France on May 17, 2024. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival is not like an individual trophy but the entire nation feels proud of her achievement, says Anasuya Sengupta, who struggles to put into words the feeling of being the first Indian to win an acting honour at the film festival.
The 37-year-old Kolkata actress won the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard category for Bulgarian director Konstantin Bozanov’s Hindi film. shameless,
“I still don’t have the right words for it. Maybe next Friday I will find the right words… My proud moment makes everyone feel that sense of pride and it takes it even higher. So it’s not really a personal achievement for me… To do this with the whole country, it feels great,” Sengupta said. PTI in an interview.
It was a special year for India at Cannes. And Sengupta wasn’t the only reason.
Filmmaker Payal Kapadia We all imagine ourselves as light It became the first film in 30 years to be nominated in the main competition and the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix award at Cannes. Also, FTII student Chidanand S Naik’s Sunflower was the first to know Won first prize at the La Cinéfa competition, making it a triple achievement for India.
“We were a group of 15-20 people, maybe even less. But it felt like we were representing a bigger spirit because there is this bigger spirit in our country. My happiness makes everyone happy. I am more proud of Payal’s win than mine. And I know she and her whole team feel the same way about me and my team… The rest of the world is seeing us together, supporting each other, doing good work, getting recognition, and that makes me even happier,” Sengupta said.
His co-stars shameless She said that Tanmay Dhanania and Omara Shetty started celebrating as soon as her name was announced. She walked towards the stage in a haze.
“What Vicky Krieps (jury member) said before the award was announced impressed me a lot. He said, ‘This year we decided to give this award to someone who showed up every day, went through hell and gave his life for the film. shamelessAnd that means a lot coming from artists who I have a lot of respect for.”
shamelessThe show, which premiered in Cannes on May 17, depicts the harrowing world of exploitation. Sengupta plays the lead character of Renuka, who escapes from a Delhi brothel after stabbing a policeman to death and takes refuge in a community of sex workers in North India, where she meets Devika (Omara), a young girl condemned to a life of prostitution.
This gay drama is adapted from a story from author William Dalrymple’s 2009 book Nine Lives: The Quest for Sanctity in Modern India. Sengupta’s acceptance speech also drew attention, in which she dedicated the award “to the gay community and other marginalised communities” who have bravely fought for their rights around the world.
Also read:‘The Shameless’ stars Omara Shetty and Anasuya Sengupta on representing India at Cannes 2024
Stressing the importance of “looking at every human being equally”, he said what saddens him is that it needs to be “expressed separately”.
“And I really have a lot of hope in my heart, a lot of love that I’m not the only one who feels this way. When you say it, you see it connect with people.”
Sengupta said she has always pushed herself to explore her artistic sensibilities. A graduate in English literature from Jadavpur University, the actress said she was interested in performing arts since childhood.
“I had very nice parents who completely pushed me towards art. I used to paint as a child. When you grow up in a Bengali family, you are really pushed towards extracurricular activities. And by the time I went to Jadavpur University, where I studied, I had started doing a little bit of theatre.” As part of a theatre troupe called Tin Can, Sengupta got his first film role in a Bengali film Madly BengaliAfter this she went to Mumbai.
When she was looking for good characters, she first worked as an assistant director and later headed the production design department for films and shows like. Ray, Masaba Masaba And Chippa,
“I started wanting to do and try something different, a different art form. That’s when I started painting. I decided to leave Bombay and moved to Goa. I thought, art, and let’s see where it takes me.” It was then that Constantin reached out to her on Facebook and asked her to play the lead role shamelessShe read the entire script in one go and instantly fell in love with Renuka, the lead character, and for whom she wanted to stand up.
