Anasuya Sengupta has been working as a production designer/artist for nearly a decade and a half, and now she has become the toast of a nation as an actor. Three weeks ago, the 37 year old became the first Indian to win Best Actress in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes film festival for her role in Konstantin Bojanov’s The Shameless. A social media post shared by friend Tanmay Dhanania (who is also in the film) shows her in utter shock, moments after actor Vicky Krieps announced Sengupta’s name on stage.
Shot mostly in Nepal, Bojanov’s film replicates the rhythm of a Western. In the first scene we are introduced to Renuka (Sengupta), who has just killed a cop in the brothel where she works, and is on the run. Hiding in another brothel on the outskirts of Delhi, as she puts together a plan to flee the country, Renuka falls in love with Devika (Omara Shetty) – a teenager being groomed for a life in sex work. Inspired by a chapter in William Dalrymple’s Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (2009) – set around the Devadasi community – The Shameless also stars Mita Vashisht and Auroshika Dey in significant parts.
Bojanov’s film is a stark indictment of India’s social and political hierarchies. It documents life on the margins – where a queer, Muslim (Renuka’s real name is Nadira) sex worker wrestles with her fate in an increasingly saffronising society. Despite falling into some familiar potholes for an Indian film made by a foreign filmmaker and glazing over certain key segments, The Shameless is redeemed by a committed and feral central performance by Sengupta.
She credits Amitabh Bachchan and his angry-young-man persona in the ‘70s as one of her references to build Renuka. She has similar droopy eyes and rather interestingly chooses a retro shirt as her attire while soliciting clients. Renuka comes across as someone hardened by the perpetual injustices of the society, to a point that she’s made her peace with it. She’s stopped complaining, instead trying to find a way out using whatever means. Much like Bachchan’s anti-heroes.
Landing in Delhi from Cannes, Sengupta says she didn’t accurately estimate the euphoria for her win. Her Instagram following has shot up significantly. “The first week, I think it was going up by a 1,000 every day. It’s levelled up now. I used to be someone with a very humble following of around 3,000, and now it’s somewhere near 15,000,” Sengupta says over a video call. “I’ve stopped looking at it [Instagram] now.” Having done a round of press in Delhi and Mumbai, Sengupta headed back to Goa, her home for four years, to get some rest before she goes back to Mumbai for work.
In an interview with The Wire, Sengupta discussed the space for indie films like The Shameless, how to responsibly portray drug use on screen and what she hopes will come of this happy phase in her life. Edited excerpts follow.
While I’m sure you’re grateful for all the attention, is a side of you also slightly amused at how quickly you’ve gone from relative anonymity to fame?
I’m enjoying it, honestly. I wouldn’t say “amused” and thereby throw any shade on it. It’s fun. I’m also trying to imagine it from the other side, if I saw a story like this I’d be thrilled for them too. And there’s so much authenticity in the response, it gives a very wholesome flavour to it. Honestly, I’m just thrilled to be the conduit to this entire thing. If I scratch the surface, I think I can see that it’s also about the kind of story that we all want right now.
How would you approximate your skills at dealing with the ‘fame’ part of the job?
I acted about 15 years ago, but I’ve been working as a production designer for a majority of this time. I did a film with Anjan Dutta [called Madly Bangali] long back, which was almost in another lifetime. But I think The Shameless is more of a debut now, considering just how much time there has been between them. But I’ve been around in this film industry, and also really seen it from the inside. What that has done is it’s built me in the way where I’m a very story-driven person, which made me a story-driven actor too. It’s resulted in this overnight kind of fame, yes. But I’ve also poured in many years into these different disciplines of Art and my own grounding, so that remains my focus even now.
I was really affected by your performance as Renuka simply because of how physical it felt – like I felt a knot in my stomach during your drug withdrawal scenes. What’s a way to accurately, responsibly portray drug use on screen?
I think I tried to dignify the character and her premise. Ronny (Sen, director of Cat Sticks) spoke extensively about how we often end up criminalising these characters who use drugs on screen, thereby casting aspersions on addicts – where they’re no different from robbers, murderers, which is wrong on so many levels. It’s a tricky space, and you also don’t want to end up as a vessel for promoting such a thing or making it look desirable. I felt zero judgement towards Renuka, I felt I had to stand up for her, and get into her skin. I relied a lot on my gut, and hoped that I had the right gaze on it. You never know till you know. I prepped very hard, because I didn’t want to take any chances. I understood that I wanted to approach the job as truthfully as I could, and be the person as closely as possible.
How did you prepare for Renuka’s physicality – she seems detached from the sex work, and yet very secure in her own skin.
I loved the character. The more I started to embrace the fact that I wanted to become her, I held on to the feelings when I read the script for the first time. She’s obviously a complicated character, and is a hapless mess in quite a few scenes, but I wanted to bottle up those feelings into her that I felt while reading the script. I knew I was ready to do anything. Konstantin (Bojanov, director of The Shameless) allowed me to use my imagination in playing Renuka in the way I saw it. I was drawing a lot, and even before the styling and costume fell into place, I could feel that I had the freedom to interpret her physicality. I poured into her past, what her life was before the events in this film took place. What a day in her life looks like, she probably doesn’t eat too much, I knew I had to look very lean and gaunt.
I was always into martial arts, and two months before filming began I called my trainer and sought his help to fine-tune things. I thought the martial arts would really help with me realising the power and the grounding of the character. I was practicing the Filipino knife, because Renuka uses it quite a lot. I was running 2-3 km everyday for a few months. In the film, does she actually run? No. But it was my inference to showcase someone who has been on the run through a large part of her adult life. It quickly became character work after a point, because it became a mindset thing. Mentally, she’s also a lone wolf, and that was an exciting space to inhabit.
I was also supported by a wonderful partner, and an entire community of actors and artists, who allowed me to be by myself during the time of filming. It gave me the space to bring Renuka into fruition, I wrote a lot about her, giving her a full backstory about what she’d probably been through before getting to the events that take place in the film. It wasn’t completely strategised, I began with a couple of things that I wanted to do for the character. And then I tempered my approach accordingly with what was working.
A still from ‘The Shameless’.
Were there films or performances you discussed with Konstantin as reference or inspiration?
Konstantin wanted to make a documentary on the Devadasi community, which he had come across in William Dalrymple’s Nine Lives (2009). So, yes we did have cinematic references, but we were also cognisant that there were real Renukas, Devis in the world. And we wanted our performances to dignify the existence of the community and the lives of the people. I watched a lot of documentaries on addiction, especially on heroin and how a particular class of the society gets hooked on to these things and get criminalised for it – but the fact that there’s someone putting it on the streets. I collaborated with my cinematographer, gaffers and we envisioned this very graphic novel kind of space for the film.
I loved Parul Sondh’s production design on this film – I think she’s an ace at constructing this ‘diseased look’ for society, especially her work in Kanu Behl’s Titli and Agra. It lends so much to your character.
I wouldn’t dare overstep a line given that she’s been such an exponent of production design in the Hindi film community. Also, because I already had a lot on my plate. And Parul also did the costumes for the film. The room that Renuka moves to in the new brothel, it gave me the creeps. In that scene, when she’s talking to the Madam – you can see the disgust on my face. The disgust was real, I wasn’t acting.
There seems to be a lot of euphoria and pride around independent players like yourself, Payal Kapadia (who won the Grand Prix), FTII etc., which some of us know will disappear once this news cycle is over. Your colleague Tanmay Dhanania spoke about the challenges of attending Cannes when your film plays there, versus influencers who find sponsors without even lifting a finger. Have you gotten a better understanding of the market in the last two weeks – and what do you think needs to change?
The understanding of the ‘market’ is an interesting thing you mention, because it’s a business undertaking. The red carpet is one of the most prestigious ad spots for agencies across the world. A lot of it is not very hard to understand. You realise why so many brands come on board in such a big way. But I would say, something I personally want – is to have a more diverse approach to everything. Particularly, Indian cinema. And this year is testimony to that.
Are you hopeful that The Shameless will be released in India?
For sure, I’m very hopeful! Especially given the messages I’ve got. I’m hoping they’re interested in seeing my performance for which they’re congratulating me.
But the space for independent cinema is rapidly depleting in India.
I wouldn’t contest what you’re saying because it’s true, but I also believe that the time is now. It’s more clear than ever that people are ready to watch all kinds of films these days. I think it’s a great time for storytelling at large, and that’s the only way to assert yourself as an industry with rich storytelling.
What does an award like this do for an actor like you – who I’m assuming wants to do a particular kind of work?
For myself, I’m really hoping for more work like The Shameless. I’m a story-driven person, and I’m hoping it results in more opportunities. In many ways, this doesn’t feel like my win alone. It also belongs to Omara, Konstantin, Tanmay. I’ve realised that this isn’t just about me. I’m hoping people remember what they’re feeling. I hope it’s not a fleeting thing, because this could potentially put us all in the right direction. It’s the only way to support the work that needs support.
The Shameless premiered at Cannes 2024 in the Un Certain Regard section.
