‘It Slowly Dawned On Me That I Had Won’

‘I
want
to
believe
that
now
the
world
is
my
oyster.’

As

Anasuya
Sengupta
stood
at
the
conclusion
of
the
Cannes
Film
Festival
receiving
the


Best
Actress
award
in
the
prestigious
Un
Certain
Regard
section,
her
mind
was
floating
in
a
state
of
disbelief.

Reliving
that
golden
moment,
Anasuya
says,
“I
was
listening
intently
to
what
(jury
member)
Vicky
Krieps
was
saying
while
announcing
the
award…
she
said,
‘We
decided
to
give
the
prize
to
that
person
who
got
up
everyday
and
went
down
to
hell,
who
gave
her
skin
for
this
film.’

“I
was
moved
even
hearing
just
that,
when
my
name
followed
it
was
a
few
seconds
of
utter
disbelief.

“I
was
sitting
between
my
co-actors
Omara
(Shetty)
and
Tanmay
(Dhanania),
and
they
both
yelled
out
in
joy.
It
slowly
dawned
on
me
that
I
had
won,
and
it
was
a
surreal
feeling
realising
that
my
immense
hard
work
had,
I
believe,
paid
off.”

All
she
wanted
to
do
after
landing
in
India
was
to
reach
home.
“All
I
could
think
of
in
my
head
at
that
point
was
I
wanted
to
hug
my
family
and
tell
them
I
won.
I
think
the
validation
and
adulation
from
one’s
family
is
always
that
much
more
special.

“And
now
suddenly
with
the
love
coming
my
way
from
all
quarters,
everyone
feels
like
extended
family,
because
I
sense
the
warmth
they
have
and
the
wishes
are
so
genuine.
My
personal
pinch-me
moment
was
the
Amul
ad,
I
think,
and
my
family
is
still
celebrating
that.”

From
art
direction
to
acting
to
global
recognition,
Anusuya’s
success
story
is
is
like
a
Cinderella
story.
She
agrees.

“I
suppose
it
could
appear
that
way!
I
see
my
life
and
journey
so
far
as
that
of
a
multi-
disciplinary
artist.
Be
it
art
direction,
or
my
illustration
work,
and
now
acting,
I
believe
that
the
practice
of
one
art
form
almost
always
enriches
another.

“I
believe
everything
I
have
done
in
my
life
so
far
has
held
me
in
good
stead
for
the
work
that
I
now
want
to
plunge
into.
It’s
exciting
for
me
to
see
this
as
something
that
can
bring
a
newer
more
diverse
aspect
to
Indian
cinema,
for
film-makers
and
particularly
for
women
in
film.

“I’m
discovering
newer
sides
to
myself
and
think
I
want
to
explore
it
that
much
more.”

Speaking
on
how
she
got
this
plum
role
in

The
Shameless,
Anusuya
says,
“I
had
tried
my
hand
at
acting
before
art
direction
took
over.
Growing
up,
I
was
always
involved
with
performance
arts
in
some
form
or
the
other,
be
it
school
plays,
elocution
and
eventually
theatre
groups
during
my
university
years.

“My
director
Konstantin
Bojanov
and
I
had
been
Facebook
friends
for
a
few
years
because
of
common
film-maker
friends.
He
used
to
follow
the
art
that
I
posted
quite
keenly,
and
that
was
the
extent
of
our
interaction
with
each
other.

“I
was,
therefore,
completely
caught
off
guard
when
he
sent
me
a
message
on
Facebook
asking
me
to
potentially
try
for
one
of
the
leads
in
his
next
feature.

“Though
initially
surprised,
once
I
read
the
script
I
knew
I
simply
had
to
do
it.
Parag
Mehta
and
Konstantin
spent
months
trying
to
lock
the
right
actor
for
this
part,
so
when
they
settled
on
me,
I
couldn’t
have
been
more
thrilled
and
grateful.

“I
think
what
set
the
ball
rolling
for
me
was
that
I
fell
in
love
with
my
character
Renuka
as
soon
as
I
read
the
script.
She
was
powerful,
she
was
strong,
she
was
tender
—
a
hero
or
even
a
sort
of
an
icon
in
my
eyes!

“I
wanted
to
stand
up
for
her
no
matter
what,
and
that
became
my
starting
point
of
entering
her/my
universe.

“It
was
challenging,
sure,
there
was
a
great
deal
of
both
physical
and
mental
work
that
I
put
into
building
this
character.
I
had
a
fantastic
director,
coactors,
and
a
team
of
thoroughly
professional
and
able
technicians
around
me.

“Every
person
involved
in
the
film
came
with
a
deep
love
and
passion
to
tell
the
story.
To
say
that
that
helped,
is
an
understatement.”

Anusuya
felt
a
sense
of
kinship
with
Director


Konstantin
Bojanov
right
away.

“I
believed
in
his
vision,
and
very
quickly
I
think
I
understood
how
he
was
seeing
this
film
play
out
in
his
head.
I
workshopped
and
played
out
the
part
in
my
head
over
and
over
again
till
it
felt
right
to
me.
I
wrote
her
into
existence
by
writing
page
upon
page
in
my
notebook
about
her
probable
backstory.

“I
worked
on
keeping
my
imagination
strong
and
fertile,
birthing
my
character
Renuka
in
my
mind,
and
then
worked
backward
to
bring
her
alive.
It
was
essential
for
me
to
tell
her
story
truthfully,
have
fun
with
it
and
layer
it
with
almost
a
Bachchan-esque
‘angry
young
man’
flavour,
yet
capture
the
tenderness
and
love
that
lies
deep
within
her.

“These
are
real
people,
real
women,
and
I
wanted
to
play
her
with
all
the
love
that
I
could
muster.
I
now
realise
that
maybe
I
was
able
to
achieve
that,
after
all.
I
had
a
great
time
filming,
perhaps
the
best
time
of
my
life!

“It
was
a
challenging
film
to
mount,
very
demanding
creatively,
and
with
constraints
atypical
of
relatively
smaller
films.
Our
producers
worked
tirelessly
to
put
it
together
and
it
was
beautiful
for
me
to
see
so
many
people
from
so
many
different
contexts
come
together
in
shared
passion
to
tell
the
story
of

The
Shameless.”

For
Anusuya

The
Shameless
is
a
testament
of
what
cinema
truly
is.
“A
collaboration
of
people
from
across
the
world
who
come
together
to
make
something
they
believe
in.
The
film
has
truly
been
that.

“Be
it
Akka,
urban
factory,
TPHQ,
Klas
films,
House
on
Fire,
Shanta
Nepali
productions
who
line-produced
in
Nepal,
all
of
them
were
on
the
film’s
side
and
backing
Konstantin’s
vision.

“And
then
to
be
backed
by
my
co-stars,
who
are
such
genuine,
warm
and
powerful
people
and
performers.
I’ve
been
lucky
to
say
the
least.
The
Best
Actress
award
can
only
go
to
one
person
alas,
but
it’s
much
more
than
a
personal
achievement
for
me.”

The
Cannes-do-it
actress
doesn’t
want
to
believe
her
world
has
changed.
“If
anything
I
want
to
believe
that
now
the
world
is
my
oyster
and
as
an
actor
and
production
designer,
I
want
to
be
able
to
break
the
traditional
barriers
of
what
is
considered
possible.
There’s
some
very
exciting
work
that’s
been
coming
my
way,
so
fingers
crossed.”

Payal
Kapadia
also
made
the
country
proud
at
Cannes.

Anasuya
feels
a
deep
kinship
with
Payal
.
“There
aren’t
enough
words
to
describe
the
feeling.
I
adore
Payal
and
the
entire
cast
of
her
film.
Many
of
us
are
friends;
and
to
go
together
with
our
films,
which
then
went
on
to
bag
these
prestigious
awards…
how
to
even
put
words
to
this
feeling.

“It
really
felt
like
going
as
a
team.
Standing
together
on
a
world
stage
connected
by
our
friendships,
our
mutual
respect
and
admiration
for
each
other’s
work
and
efforts.

“It
feels
like
a
pivotal
moment
for
many
of
us
here
trying
to
make
the
stories
we
hope
to
tell
and
say.
I’m
genuinely
hopeful
that
this
paves
the
way
for
so
many
more
varied
voices,
particularly
women
to
be
able
to
tell
their
stories
and
be
the
change
we
so
want
to
be.”