All We Imagine As Light actor Kani Kusruti reveals she rejected audition call by The Kerala Story director Sudipto Sen

Kani Kusruti is a Malayalam actor whose film All We Imagine As Light received the prestigious Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 last week.

Kani Kusruti, a Malayalam actor, received international praise for her role in Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light, which won the historic Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival last week. In an interview with Manorama Online, she confessed that, despite receiving fewer film offers, she declined an audition call from The Kerala Story director Sudipto Sen. (Also Read: Kani Kusruti Exclusive Interview: ‘Payal Kapadia certainly deserved the award at the Cannes Film Festival’)

Kani on not receiving film offers
“I can only work on films that come to me. If I do not find work, I would be forced to choose films that do not coincide with my politics,” said Kani, who revealed that even after winning the Kerala State Award for her nuanced portrayal in Sajin Baabu’s 2019 release Biriyaani, film offers have been few.

However, she stated that she tries not to work on films that do not line with her political beliefs. For example, she said that she turned down an audition call from Sudipto Sen, the director of last year’s divisive Bollywood film The Kerala Story.

Kani on Biriyani.
However, she was chastised for performing Biriyaani, which many believed represented Muslims in a stereotypical, undesirable way. “I had informed Sajin that neither my politics nor aesthetics were compatible with the script. Sajin hails from a backward Muslim society and expresses his politics, which are true in their own right. “But that is not my politics,” she clarified. Kani put her politics on her sleeves at the Cannes Film Festival, when she walked the red carpet with a watermelon-shaped handbag to symbolize her support for Palestine amid the current Israel-Palestine conflict.

Her Malayalam-Hindi film, All We Imagine As Light, which also stars Chhaya Kadam, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It was the first Indian film in 30 years to join the main competition category. Payal Kapadia also became the first director to accomplish this accomplishment. Her picture went on to win the prestigious Grand Prix, the Cannes picture Festival’s second highest accolade.

Kani Kusruti will next appear in the Disney+ Hotstar Malayalam series Nagendran’s Honeymoon.