Anasuya Sengupta: Know about first Indian to win Best Actress at Cannes

Anasuya has achieved the feat for her role in the film The Shameless, which is directed by Bulgarian filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov.

The story revolves around a girl- played by Anasuya- who escapes from a brothel in Delhi after killing a cop.

She then gets into a romantic relationship with a 17-year-old prostitute after taking refuge in a sex workers community.

Anasuya, who dedicated the award to the queer and marginalised community worldwide, said in her acceptance speech, "You don’t have to be queer to fight for equality, you don't have to be colonised to understand that colonising is pathetic.. we just need to be very, very decent human beings."

Who is Anasuya Sengupta?

Born and brought up in Kolkata, Anasuya studied English Literature for her BA course at the iconic Jadavpur University.

She made her acting debut with filmmaker Anjan Dutt's Madly Bangalee, which was released in 2009.

Photo courtesy: Anasuya Sengupta Instagram

Four years later, which means 2013, Anasuya shifted to Mumbai and started working as a production designer in the city.

Reportedly, she had a contribution in the set design for Netflix show Masaba Masaba.

Congratulatory messages

Filmmaker Tillotama Shome posted on her Instagram profile, "She brought it HOME. Listen to her words. Till the end. The quality of her voice. Ink this in your hearts For all the dreamers. @cup_o_t creates the right kind of HERSTORY. Wins best performance at @festivaldecannes for @kbojanov 's # shameless!!"

Amruta Subhash wrote, "Oh my god.. this is so amazing and touching ……"

Actor Tanmay Dhanania captured the winning moment on his Instagram profile. In the video he posted, Anasuya was seen trying to hold her tears.