Anasuya Sengupta made the entire nation proud when she bagged the trophy for the best actress at the Cannes film festival. The actor described what it feels like to be the first Indian to win acting honour in the film gala to PTI in an interview.
The 37-year-old woman from Kolkata bagged the best actress trophy under the Un Certain Regard segment for the film ‘The Shameless’. “The best actress win in Cannes doesn't feel like a personal trophy with the whole country feeling a sense of pride in my accomplishment”, said Anasuya Sengupta.
Struggling to find the words to express the feeling, she said, "I still don't have the right word for it. Maybe like the following Friday, I will know the exact word... Everyone feels a sense of pride in my moment of pride and it just elevates that. So it's really not a personal achievement for me... To do it with an entire country, it feels great," "I am more proud of Payal's win than I am of mine. And I know she and her entire team feel the same way about me and my team... For the rest of the world to see us there together, in support of each other, doing good work, getting recognised, I feel even more happy for that," Sengupta added.
A graduate in English Literature from Jadavpur University, the actor said she had been interested in performing arts since childhood. As part of a theatre troupe called Tin Can, Sengupta got her first film role in the Bengali movie ‘Madly Bangalee’. She moved to Mumbai after that.
It was a special year for India at Cannes. And Sengupta wasn't the only reason for it. Filmmaker Payal Kapadia's ‘All We Imagine As Light’ became the first film in 30 years to be nominated in the main competition and the first ever from India to win the Grand Prix Award at Cannes. Besides, FTII student Chidananda S Naik's ‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know’ won the first prize in the La Cinef competition, making it a triple feat for India.
Also Watch: Jitendra Kumar's highly anticipated 'Kota Factory' season 3 release date revealed