Kani Kusruti has established herself as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary Indian cinema, redefining what it means to be an actor in the modern age. Known for her bold choices and immersive performances, Kani consistently gravitates toward stories that challenge societal norms and delve into deeply human narratives. This year has been particularly momentous for her, with two standout performances cementing her place as a powerhouse of talent.

In Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light,’ Kani Kusruti delivers a mesmerizing portrayal of a migrant woman grappling with love, identity, and loss in the chaos of Mumbai. Blending raw emotion with a touch of magical realism, her performance is a masterclass in subtlety and depth, earning critical acclaim globally. Meanwhile, her role in ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ a boundary-pushing project directed by Shuchi Talati, showcased her fearless commitment to layered, complex characters, and got her a nomination at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards.

From her National Award-winning performance in ‘Biriyaani‘ to her recent breakthroughs, Kani Kusruti continues to shatter stereotypes and expand the scope of Indian storytelling. As we dive deeper into her craft, we uncover the ethos behind her extraordinary year and her approach to art, storytelling, and self-expression.

Here’s the full interview with actor Kani Kusruti:

Aayush Sharma: Congratulations on the incredible wins for ‘All We Imagine As Light’! The past few days must have been a whirlwind of emotions, from press engagements to screenings, culminating in this well-deserved triumph. How does it feel to see all the hard work and passion behind this film being celebrated on such a grand stage? Has the magnitude of this achievement truly sunk in yet?

Kani Kusruti: I don’t take much pride in these things, and I’m not that kind of personality. I’m happy for Pile, for all the people who worked on the film, and for myself and everyone, actually. But it’s part of—I mean, this film had its own journey. Girls Will Be Girls also had a different, great journey, which is nice, and I’m happy about it. I think an actor’s life is more about being able to work on interesting projects, different kinds of stories, and diverse characters. Those opportunities are what I find more interesting. For me, both these films—the time of the shoot, the time of rehearsals, and everything before we put it out there—already felt very rewarding. That whole process was fulfilling in itself. So, this recognition is all like bonus points and brownie points that I’m getting after—or that all of us are getting after. That’s how I see it.

Aayush Sharma: You began your journey in theater and are now working on feature films and TV shows. How has your acting process evolved from your time in theater to your work in feature-length films?

Kani Kusruti: I am a theater student as well, so I have studied different ways of approaching a performance or different kinds of craft. Of course, I don’t get to practice all my craft always, but I try to. Sometimes I’m lazy, but sometimes I try to. I don’t have one way of approaching a story. It depends, especially in films. I am more about wanting to know what the director wants, how they want to tell the story, and what kind of acting style they require for that particular film. I try to gauge that and then approach how I want to play the part and decide what approach or craft of mine will be useful for that specific story. So, I don’t have one approach anyway. Of course, there have been changes—more than changes. In the past 10 years, I have started learning acting, particularly with Venu Ji, who is a Kathakali and Koodiyattam artist. His daughter, Kapila, is my best friend and one of the most phenomenal actresses I know. They have courses called Navarasa Sadhana, and I have taken different phases of them. Then there’s Adi Shakti in Pondicherry. Their workshops help fine-tune or continue learning new crafts to play or act. In the past four or five years, I haven’t had much time to learn again, but I try to practice what I’ve learned so far. I also studied at Jacques Lecoq, a physical theater acting school, which has a completely different approach. What I mean is, yes, change has always been there. I allow myself to change and to be surprised by myself—thinking one way now, and maybe changing it later. That’s been my approach. So, yeah, I’m glad it’s always changing.

Aayush Sharma: So, we have heard that you initially were going to play Anu? What changed during the process that then you got to play Prabha?

Kani Kusruti: So, no—Payal (Kapadia) came to me with the script eight or nine years ago when she had just the idea itself. She had watched me in this short film called Memories of a Machine, and then she reached out to a common friend to ask for my contact. He messaged, saying that Payal was studying at FTII at the time. She hadn’t made anything yet, but she said, “I’m thinking of this story about two nurses. One character will be closer to 38 or 39, and the other will be 26 or 27.” At that time, I was 30 years old. She said she had watched this short film of mine and, if in a year or two she made the film, she would like me to play the younger part. She added that I could play the older part too, but that was for a much older age. Payal felt that while developing the character, she was thinking of me playing it after watching my short film, so she started writing it that way. She used to send me different drafts, but then she went on to make other projects, like Night of Knowing Nothing and Afternoon Clouds. Her journey was different, and the film was finally made only a year ago.

By that time, I had also turned 39. I knew that when she finally said, “Kani, I’m going to make this film we’ve been talking about,” I couldn’t play the younger part anymore. I told her that, and she asked, “Do you want to audition for the other part?” That’s how I auditioned for the older part. Anyway, even with the drafts I had read, though she wanted me to play the younger role, I wasn’t already thinking about how I’d play it. I always left room for Payal to come and slowly discover it with me, rather than having an idea in advance about how I’d play it. I didn’t approach it with fixed thoughts. So, yeah—that’s how it changed because it took years to finally make it, and something else happened.

Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha in a still from ‘All We Imagine As Light’ (Photo Credit: Spirit Media)

Aayush Sharma: Prabha’s journey seems to go beyond the typical notion of urban loneliness—it’s a deeper, more profound solitude stemming from an absent yet present partner, a reality that resonates with many Indian women and men. You’ve mentioned that she’s not necessarily clinging to hope but rather navigating a space of quiet hopelessness until she finds closure. How did you approach capturing this nuanced emotional landscape, and what was your process in portraying a character who finds strength not in hope, but in acceptance and moving forward?

Kani Kusruti: I mean, I try to understand Prabha through Payal only, as much as I can because, again, for me, my personality is, of course, about allowing myself to really recognize the problem and then move towards closure and come out of it—that’s my approach to life. I may not be like Prabha, taking this many years of time to get there, but I understand that everybody has different journeys. For me, it was almost ridiculous for someone to take this much time when I think of it. So in that way, I don’t understand Prabha so well, but I think there was no particular approach to it. I was just trying to understand her. Even though she’s financially independent and everything, what does independence actually mean for a woman in India? And how do they arrive at it? Even when she lived in another city and had her own way of living, to find closure, to move on, and to get hold of her life, how much of the system, patriarchy, and everything around her is so deeply rooted that even a financially independent woman is not so independent?

For me, yeah, it is strange because I grew up with a lot of privilege in terms of owning my space and standing up for myself. It was all very easy for me to realize, thanks to how my parents raised me. So, yeah, for me, it was like—I know women like that. It wasn’t someone that I didn’t know. I know a lot of women like that, in fact. So in that way, it was easy to understand that they take their time, and it’s a very slow process. Only by herself opening up a bit more, in her quiet time of accepting others, I think Prabha started becoming more accepting of other people, like Anu or Parvati’s perspectives on life. And her allowing herself to show her vulnerability to Anu—after at least asking forgiveness from her after being rude and all those things—is how she slowly starts seeing those changes. But it wasn’t difficult to understand Prabha for me. I think, for me, Girls Will Be Girls, Anila was more of a difficult character to understand. Prabha’s kind, I know many women like her. Anila’s kind, I didn’t know almost anyone.

Aayush Sharma: In Girls Will Be Girls, your character Anila seems to embody dual aspects or conflicting roles. Meanwhile, you also play Prabha, a character with a distinct personality. How does your approach as an actor differ when transitioning between these two very different roles?

Kani Kusruti: So, like I said in the beginning, for me, the approach changes depending on which director I work with, rather than what character I’m playing, because I always find directors with a very strong voice. Very rarely are directors like, “You just do as you want.” Most directors I’ve worked with have a clear idea of how the whole film should look, what the acting style for all actors should be, and how their characters should be portrayed. Particularly with Payal, everything was designed. All credit goes to Payal only. In terms of even a tiny movement—from an eye movement to a sigh—everything was clearly designed, and Payal wanted it that way, I would say. So that is there. With Shushi, she was more open to interpretations, okay? But she also had clarity about what she wanted. She was open to seeing how things turned out. She kind of clearly told us what the situation was like and who the characters were, so we knew that. But how we would react there—she was a little more open to it. Still, Suji also directed scenes with very different interpretations. In Girls Will Be Girls, there were also scenes where some days, she would completely reinterpret it differently and make us act completely differently, okay? So, I was very curious to watch Girls Will Be Girls because I didn’t know what made it to the editing table, or what made the final cut. I didn’t know which variation of my interpretation of Anila made it into the final cut. Even I had to wait to see, okay?

So, it was very interesting to see that. As opposed to Payal, we rehearsed everything, and we knew exactly what we were going to shoot. Before the shoot, we already knew how the scene was going to come out. There was no surprise at all. In Shuchi’s films, there were many surprises. I’d be like, “Oh, this is the shot.” She would finally… like, there were so many things. Even though she had clarity and her script was clear, she was a director who wanted to play around like that a bit and then later decide. I mean, it’s also possible that when I watched Girls Will Be Girls, finally, Shuchi took most things closer to the script only. But while shooting, she was making us go everywhere, which was really fun also, yeah. So, my approach—coming back to the question—is that, like you said, all these approaches were different depending on the director. Suji wanted us to be completely open-minded and completely change our interpretations. Maybe she shot every take as a different variation. It wasn’t like a better take of the previous one—every take was a completely different variation. That’s how Suji wanted it, also. So, in that way, I found the process was different. Then, you know, how to approach Anila was different. Because I couldn’t say, “No, Anila will not behave like that.” I couldn’t say, “No, what if Anila behaves like this, also?” It wasn’t like that. But with Payal, it was like, “No, this is how Prabha is.” We were trying to figure out her frame exactly as that, and only that. Payal was trying to keep it within that, and only that. Within that, we were working, so it was more.

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Aayush Sharma: There’s a moment in the film when Parvathy, a colleague, tells Prabha, “You’re better off being alone,” and the look on your face in that instant is haunting. It’s a silent, gut-wrenching reaction that speaks volumes without a single word. Now, this is an impactful change, for an actor, do such scenes require an extra bit of sensitivity or preparation?

Kani Kusruti: No, actually, for me, I didn’t have to do anything. Chhaya Ji, the way… for me, Chhaya Ji, she would pick up these things from that bag in a way that I don’t know. That moment, every time we rehearsed it, even before the shot, I don’t even remember exactly which shot Payal finally chose. I mean, I’ve of course watched it, but I’m not remembering that specific shot of mine, yeah. I’m remembering how Parvathy, played by Chaya Ji, how she was taking that stuff and talking, and she just continued to do it. I am only remembering how she did it. That is the only thing making me do it. It’s nothing else. It’s how Chhaya Ji plays. I don’t know how to tell you. From the first rehearsal of that scene, I very much remember how Chhaya Ji—just the way she was doing—it touched me every time. I cannot explain it through words, like really.

And it’s also one of my favorite Parvati’s actions. Chhaya Ji is only bringing that; that is why it’s happening. I mean, Payal must have shot both of us. I didn’t know in the edit whether they were going to stick with my face or… it didn’t matter. So, it was an interaction between Parvati and Prabha, and it was like that.

Aayush Sharma: How did you collaborate with your co-stars, especially Divya Prabha and Chhaya Kadam, to create the interpersonal dynamics seen in the film?

Kani Kusruti: Divya and I have done a soap opera together. We have done a play together. This was the first time we could act on screen together, so it was really nice. In terms of, like, I know what she likes, what she doesn’t like, or she knows me also, so that is there. But for me, none of that matters. It just had to be a good actor with a good attitude, that’s all. Like Chaya Ji, I did not know her—I know her only from the screen. She was an incredible person, incredible. A person that’s just so there, and it’s very easy to be with her and very, very cooperative to work with. Everything with Divya, which I already knew, but Divya and I knew so well that we knew it. But Chaya Ji—I didn’t feel like I did not know Chhaya Ji. Chhaya ji also felt like we had known each other for 20 years before. That’s the energy she brought. In fact, it’s not just about co-actors. It’s the crew and everyone on the film—all the ADs and, like, there is Ruth to Suryash, like many people who worked. Prabhadi, the assistant camera-woman, like many, many people who’ve worked in this film and also in Girls Will Be Girls. It was a certain kind of crew who all, like, you know, were like family and at the same time extremely professional, extremely empathetic, and kind.

It was a very “no shouting” kind of shoot—very, very eagerly and honestly trying to make something very peacefully, which was really nice. So everybody had that energy. It is not just actors having that energy—that has no meaning. Also, film is an extremely collaborative process with a lot of people, and all the people on the set should have a certain kind of mindset. If it gels, and if that resonates with everyone, it will be a great experience to remember retrospectively. That’s how I see both films. Both were different, too, but it was really nice.

Aayush Sharma: If you could revisit Prabha’s story or explore it in a sequel, what aspects of her life would you most want to delve deeper into, and why?

Kani Kusruti: Nothing, except she’s a nurse. I really love nurses, like, I absolutely adore them. I respect them, and I think they do an incredible job for this world to balance out this well. I would have loved to know the hard work and talent that goes behind it. I don’t even think—I don’t know if I have the mind and body for it. The one thing that attracts me the most is that she’s a nurse. That’s the best part of her. And that is something that, personally, Kani would have liked to know. Like, I would have liked to know more.

‘All We Imagine As Light’ is playing in theatres, while ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.