Anasuya Sengupta made history as the first Indian to clinch a prestigious acting award at the Cannes Film Festival on a Friday evening. Despite her low-key profile, having primarily worked as a production designer in Mumbai while residing in Goa, she triumphantly seized the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard category.
Her portrayal in Bulgarian director Constantin Bojanov’s film, ‘The Shameless,’ earned her this honour, alongside renowned actress Mita Vashist. The movie, shot over six weeks in India and Nepal, showcased Sengupta’s gritty performance.
Incidentally connected through Facebook, Bojanov, an esteemed director, surprised Anasuya by requesting an audition tape, thus igniting her acting journey. Prior to her breakthrough, the Kolkata-native had contributed as a production designer to projects like Srijit Mukherjee’s ‘Forget Me Not’ in Netflix’s 2021 Satyajit Ray anthology and ‘Masaba Masaba.’ In her role as Renuka, a wanderer finding solace within a community of sex workers in northern India, she delves into themes of love and survival.
The narrative revolves around Renuka’s forbidden romance with a teenager named Devika, portrayed by Omara Shetty, who initially avoids entering the sex trade due to her health issues, but not for long.
Accepting the award, a visibly moved Anasuya dedicated her win to “the queer community and other marginalised communities for their courageous resilience in unjust battles.” With her voice trembling with emotion, she concluded her brief acceptance speech with a resolute declaration: “We don’t need to be colonised to recognize the profound shortcomings of colonisers.”