Not just my achievement, whole country feels pride: Anasuya Sengupta on Cannes win
The Hindu
Anasuya Sengupta reflects on her historic Cannes win, emphasising national pride and solidarity in the film industry
The best actress win in Cannes doesn't feel like a personal trophy with the whole country feeling a sense of pride in her accomplishment, says Anasuya Sengupta, struggling to find words to describe what it feels like to be the first Indian to win acting honours in the film gala.
The 37-year-old woman from Kolkata bagged the best actress trophy under the Un Certain Regard segment for Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov's Hindi language movie The Shameless.
"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," Sengupta told PTI in an interview.
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.
"We were a group of 15-20 people, maybe less. But it felt like we were representing a bigger feeling because that bigger feeling is there in our country. There's a sense of everybody feeling happiness in my happiness. "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.
Her co-stars from The Shameless -- Tanmay Dhanania and Omara Shetty -- started celebrating the moment her name was announced, she said. In a haze, she made her way to the stage.
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