Anasuya Sengupta Becomes 1st Indian to Bag Best Actress Award in Un Certain Regard Category at Cannes

Anasuya Sengupta created history by bagging the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard category at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival for her role in Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov’s Hindi-language movie ‘The Shameless’.

Sengupta, an actress from Kolkata became the first Indian artiste to win the category’s top acting honour.

‘The Shameless’ also stars Mita Vashisht, Tanmay Dhanania, Rohit Kokate and Auroshikha Dey in key roles.

In her acceptance speech on Friday night, Sengupta dedicated the award to “to the queer community and other marginalised communities”.

‘The Shameless’ premiered at Cannes on May 17. It tells the story of the exploitation and misery of two sex workers, who forge a bond and seek to throw off their shackles.

Sengupta plays the lead character of Renuka, who escapes from a Delhi brothel after stabbing a policeman to death and takes shelter in a community of sex workers in northern India, where she meets Devika (Omara), a girl condemned to a life of prostitution.