In the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, actor Anasuya Sengupta became the first Indian to win Best Actress. She was given the award for her performance in the Constantin Bojanov directed movie “The Shameless.” The story of the movie follows a sex worker who, after stabbing a policeman, flees from a Delhi brothel.
In her acceptance speech at the awards night, Anasuya dedicated the award to “the queer community and other marginalised communities” for bravely fighting for their rights all around the world. “You don’t have to be queer to fight for equality, you don’t have to be colonised to know that colonising is pathetic — we just need to be very, very decent human beings,” the Indian actress quoted.
In the film Shameless, Sengupta portrays the main role of Renuka, who flees a Delhi brothel after fatally killing a police officer. She seeks safety in a village of prostitutes in northern India, where she meets Devika (Omara), a young girl destined for a life of prostitution.
Anasuya, who presently resides in Goa, is mainly known for her work as a production designer in Mumbai. She made a set design contribution for the Netflix series “Masaba Masaba.” Hailing from the city of Kolkata, Sengupta attended the Jadavpur University. The actress made her film debut with the 2009 rock musical – Madly Bangalee, which was directed by the Bengali filmmaker Anjan Dutt.
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