Anasuya Sengupta becomes 1st Indian actor to win Best Actress at Cannes

For India, the 77th Cannes Film Festival has been a very exciting one. Indian performers and films were nominated in multiple categories at the festival, in addition to Shyam Benegal's Manthan receiving a special showing at the event over 48 years after its premiere and a number of celebrities and influencers attracting attention on the red carpet. An Indian actor has now won big at Cannes 2024.

Kolkata-born Anasuya Sengupta took home the Un Certain Regard Prize for Best Actress for her role in The Shameless, Indian Express reported.

The film, which was written and directed by Konstantin Bojanov of Bulgaria, centres on Anasuya's character Renuka, who kills a police officer and then escapes from a Delhi brothel. Renuka's love interest Omara Shetty also features in the movie. 

Anasuya became the first Indian winner of the award, making history with her win.

In a conversation with The Kolkata, Anasuya described her feelings upon learning that her movie had been selected for Cannes' Un Certain Regard section. She said, “I received the news when Konstantin sent me a link to the press conference announcing the Cannes official selections. When our film’s name was announced, I jumped out of the chair with ecstasy!”

Apart from Anasuya, two Indian films at this year's Cannes La Cinef Selection took first and third place, respectively, in Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know and Bunnyhood. Mansi Maheshwari is the director of Bunnyhood, while Chidananda Naik, a student at the Film and Television Institute of India, is the director of the Kannada short film Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know. Maheshwari has been studying in the UK and is originally from Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh. According to Chidananda Naik, who drew inspiration for the movie from a well-known folktale, told The Hindu, “My dream has been to transform the myths and folktales of India into cinematic experiences, and with such a wealth of stories waiting to be told, this short film feels like perfect place to start.”

It took four days to shoot the movie. Maheshwari, in the meantime, discloses that the inspiration for Bunnyhood sprang from a childhood episode in which her mother had lied about an appendix operation she had to have.

“I’ve always struggled with understanding why people feel the need to lie, and its consequences. The story of my appendix surgery was the perfect choice to explore this theme,” said Maheshwari in an interview with Directors Note.

The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival concludes on May 25.