Konkona wins two awards on the same stage

Bong-beauty Konkona Sen Sharma has two reasons to celebrate. The Wake Up Sid actress made her directorial debut with Death in the Gunj. The film has been screened at different film festivals but it is yet to be released in India. Recently the film was showcased at New York Indian Film Festival and Konkona bagged the Best Director Award. Just like Veni Vidi Vici. That’s not all. Lipstick Under My Burkha starring Konkona too was screened at the same festival and the actress ended up receiving the Best Actress Award for her performance in this film. 37-year-old Konkona won the award for directing the drama thriller which stars Kalki Koechlin, Vikrant Massey, Jim Sarbh and Tanuja. The film also features one of the last performances by veteran actor Om Puri, who passed away in January this year. She received the top honour for her performance in Alankrita Shrivastava’s Lipstick Under My Burkha, a film which explores women’s sexuality. Alankrita also congratulated Konkona for her win at the festival on the micro-blogging site. The film was in news for being rejected by Central Board of Film Certification for its content. Later the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal passed it with a certificate and the makers are yet to announce the release date. Konkona first gained attention with the film Mr and Mrs Iyer (2002), which was directed by her mother, and received the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. Her appearance in the drama Page 3 (2005) got her wider recognition from audiences, and she has since starred in a number of films, most of which have garnered her critical praise rather than commercial success. She won two consecutive Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Awards for her performances in Omkara (2006) and Life in a... Metro (2007), respectively. Her performance in the former won her a second National Award under the Best Supporting Actress category. She was the first recipient of the Best Actress award at the Filmfare Awards East for her work in the Bengali film Goynar Baksho (2014).