India, May 18 -- Actor Sushmita V Singh is heading to the Cannes Film Festival with her debut film Bombay Stories, an experience that "still feels surreal." The actor, whose roots are "deeply connected to Azamgarh and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh," found out about the selection in January and "could hardly keep calm after that," especially since, for someone who "doesn't come from a Bollywood background, it felt almost unreal." She views the achievement as something she will "always cherish," adding that she will be attending the festival to represent a project "envisioned for an international audience from the very beginning."

Working in a film that is an adaptation inspired by the works of Saadat Hasan Manto, Sushmita plays a student nav...