Kani Kusruti

Kani Kusruti (born 12 September 1985) is an Indian actress and model.[2] She first gained recognition in 2009 with the film Kerala Cafe, where her performance was critically acclaimed.[3][4]

Kani Kusruti
Born
Kani

(1985-09-12) 12 September 1985
Thiruvananthapuram
NationalityIndian
Alma materL'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq
OccupationActress, Model
Partner(s)Anand Gandhi
Parents
  • Maitreya (father)
  • Jayasree[1] (mother)

Early life

Kani was born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, to social activist and rationalist parents Jayasree AK and Maitreya Maitreyan. Her parents had dropped their last names to erase the social hierarchy marker that comes with last names in India. At 15, she invented her last name "Kusruti" (meaning "mischievous" in Malayalam) to fill in a requirement in her class 10th exam application. She grew up in Thiruvananthapuram, where she got introduced to the Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre,[5][6] "a common platform for theatre practitioners". She later moved to Thrissur, where she enrolled in the theatre arts program at the Thrissur Drama School, between 2005 and 2007. She completed her theatre education at the L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, where she studied physical theatre for two years.[7]

Career

At Abhinaya, Kusruti made her theatre debut in Baudhayana's classic farce Bhagavadajjukam. She played the lead role of Vasantsena in the production from 2000 to 2006. The play toured across theatre festivals, including the Bharat Rang Mahotsav and the International Theatre Festival of Kerala. She rendered the part of Kamala in M. G. Jyotish's stage adaptation of Herman Hesse' Siddhartha. In 2007, the production was invited to the Villeneuve en Scene Festival d'Avignon.

In 2009, after returning from L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, Kusruti appeared in the anthology film Kerala Cafe, in the segment "Island Express" directed by Shankar Ramakrishnan. In 2010, she played a Naxalite in the Mohanlal starrer Shikkar, but her nuanced rendition of a sex worker in the 2010 film Cocktail got her noticed by mainstream audiences.

In December 2010, Kani collaborated on creating 'Las Indias', a "mega performance event" directed by the thespian and theatre pedagogist Elias Cohen. The performance was staged in a bus, that was designed for the production. The Indo-Latin American theatre company, the Singing Sticks Theatre Ensemble evolved out of Las Indias. The bus that was originally created for Las Indias, was used once again for an interactive theatre roadshow 'Tsunami Express: Highway of Hopes', which Kusruti collaborated on making.[8]

In 2011, Kani joined the renowned touring theatre company Footsbarn to work on a new production of Shakespeare's Tempest. She played Miranda in the resulting performance "The Indian Tempest".[9] After touring Ireland, Spain, France, Portugal and India,[10] the production opened at Shakespeare's Globe in 2013.[11][12]

Kusruti researched, co-developed and acted in the Indo-Polish production 'Burning Flowers - 7 Dreams of a Woman', directed by Pawel Szkotak and produced by Teatr Biuro Podróży.[13]

In 2015, Kani became a household presence with the soap opera Eswaran Sakshiyayi, directed by K. K. Rajeev. She played the part of Advocate Tresa, a lawyer who joins in on the investigation for her brother's murder.[7]

Kusruti has acted in Vipin Vijay's upcoming feature film, due for a 2017 release.

Personal life

Kusruti's mother Dr. Jayasree AK, a community health specialist and a social activist, lectures at Pariyaram Medical College, and is a regular guest on talk shows. Her father Maitreya Maitreyan has worked for, and led, several human rights movements in Kerala.

She lives in Mumbai with her partner, the filmmaker and science communicator, Anand Gandhi. She identifies herself as an atheist and a rationalist.[14][15] On Feb 19th 2019, she revealed she quit acting due to sexual demands from filmmakers. The actress has now made serious claims against the Malayalam film industry. Shockingly, Kani has claimed that filmmakers even approached her mom to convince her to give in to their demands. Kani chose to go back to theatre, but she couldn't earn enough in that industry to make a living.

However, Kani is hopeful about the Malayalam film industry after the #MeToo Movement and initiations like Women in Cinema Collective.[16][17] In 2019, Kusruti along with 48 other notable artists in the country had written an open letter to Narendra Modi over incidents of lynching in the country.[18]

Filmography
Year Film Role Language Notes
2018 Biriyaani Khadeeja Malayalam Feature Film [19][20]
2018 Counterfeit Kunkoo Smita Sunil Nikam Hindi, Marathi Short Film[21]
2019 Oolu Manasi Malayalam Shaji N. Karun's feature film,
2018 The Notion Padma Iyer English Short Film
2018 Theekuchiyum Panithulliyum
2018 Maa Mother Tamil Short Film
2016 Memories of a Machine [22][23][24] Malayalam Short film[25]
2016 Kalam Housekeeper Tamil
2015 Dolphins Varalakshmi Malayalam
2015Ishwaran SakshiyayiAdv.TresaMalayalamTV series
2015 Sivapuranam Tamil
2015 Padakkam Malayalam Short film[26][27]
2014 Burma Clara Tamil
2014 Pisaasu Angry husband's wife Tamil
2014 Masala Republic AGS Officer Malayalam
2013 Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla Flat resident Malayalam
2013 Hotel California Guest role Malayalam
2013 North 24 Kaatham Lajjo Malayalam
2013 Oru Indian Pranayakadha Police Commissioner Malayalam
2012 Karmayogi Malayalam
2011 Silent Dark Eyes Woman English Short film
2011 Urumi Singer Malayalam
2010 Cocktail Elsa Malayalam
2010 Shikkar Naxalite Malayalam
2009 Kerala Cafe (Island Express) Zeba Malayalam
2007 A Flowering Tree Malayalam Short film[28]
Manushyaputhri Malayalam
2003 Anyar Malayalam
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References
  1. "Little bit playful!". Pirate Praveen. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  2. "Kani Kusruti Photoshoot for Fwd Life Magazine". South Indian Actress. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  3. Athira M. (7 January 2016). "Living in the moment". The Hindu. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  4. "Ten minutes to fame". The Hindu. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  5. "കനിയുടെ ലോകം കലയാണ്..." Manoramaonline (in Malayalam). 5 June 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  6. "Kani Kusruti wants to establish herself". BharatStudent.com. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  7. Nagarajan, Saraswathy (23 January 2014). "Leading lady". The Hindu. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  8. Santhosh, K. (13 April 2011). "A journey sans destination on 'Tsunami Express'". The Hindu. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  9. Crawley, Peter (8 June 2012). "Indian Tempest". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  10. Kumar, Kaavya Pradeep (24 January 2013). "Footsbarn is back in city with 'Indian Tempest'". The Hindu. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  11. "All the world's a stage". The Hindu. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  12. O'Mahony, Julia (8 June 2012). "The Indian Tempest Reviewed (Dublin Shakespeare Festival)". Totally Dublin. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  13. Loxton, Howard. "Indian Tempest". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  14. "Kani Kusruti Detail, Bio, profile". Shorshe. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  15. "Kani Kusruti's Reply to Those who Criticized". Cinemadaddy. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  16. "Pisaasu actress Kani Kusruti reveals she quit acting due to sexual demands from filmmakers". India Today. Ist. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  17. "#MeToo: Adjustments were all that was needed for filmmakers when I decided to be a cinema actress : Kani Kusruti - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  18. "Konkona Sen Sharma, Anurag Kashyap, and 47 celebs write open letter to PM Modi on lynching incidents". The Economic Times. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  19. Nagarajan, Saraswathy (29 May 2019). "Sajin Baabu's Biriyani is told from a woman's perspective". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  20. Ramnath, Nandini. "In Malayalam film 'Biriyaani', a missing brother helps a woman find her feet". Scroll.in. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  21. "Kani Kusruti Best Actress In Asia Interntional Film Festival". reporterlive.
  22. Jayaram, Deepika (14 November 2016). "Kani Kusruti essays another unusual role". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  23. Jose, Steffy (22 November 2016). "Kani Kusruthi's Memories of a Machine is trending". B4Blaze. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  24. Barua, Richa (29 November 2016). "Kani Kusruti 'Is child abuse a joke for you?' ask young girls in viral video". Asianet News. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  25. Suresh, Sunayana (24 January 2017). "Women filmmakers choose bold subjects for short films". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  26. "Padakkam Malayalam Short Film Ft. Kani Kusruti". Allreadable. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  27. "Padakkam Malayalam Short Film". Lectoro. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  28. "A Flowering Tree (2007)". IMDb. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
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