Indian stars are shining bright: Rahul Gandhi congratulates Cannes winners

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday congratulated Indian winners at this year's Cannes Film Festival -- filmmaker Payal Kapadia winning the Grand Prix award and Anasuya Sengupta for her best actress win.

''Indian stars shining bright at the 77th Cannes Film Festival! Congratulations to Payal Kapadia and the entire team of 'All We Imagine As Light' for clinching the prestigious Grand Prix award,'' he said in a post on X.

''Kudos to Anasuya Sengupta for winning the Best Actress award under the Un Certain Regard section for her performance in 'The Shameless','' Gandhi said.

''These women have scripted history, and inspired the entire Indian film fraternity,'' the former Congress chief said.

The 77th edition of Cannes, which concluded on Saturday, was undoubtedly the best year for the country which found space at the fest through eight Indian, or India-themed, films.

'All We Imagine As Light' is the first Indian film in 30 years and the first ever by an Indian female director to be showcased in the main competition.

The Malayalam-Hindi feature starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha and Chhaya Kadam, revolves around three women in Mumbai who go on a road trip to a beach town.

Kapadia, an alumna of the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), scripted history by becoming the first Indian filmmaker to win the Grand Prix award -- the second-most prestigious award at the film festival after the Palme d'Or, which went to American director Sean Baker's movie 'Anora'.

''Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know'' by FTII student Chidananda S Naik won the La Cinef first prize (film school fiction or animated films) and was another feather in FTII's cap.

Production designer Sengupta, who starred in a key role in Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov's ''The Shameless'', became the first Indian to win the best actress prize in the Un Certain Regard category.

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