--- name: "Kani Kusruti" canonical: "https://film.one/person/kani-kusruti" fi1m_id: "kani-kusruti" imdb_id: "nm4225184" tmdb_id: 1399177 wikidata_id: "Q27917057" roles: ["Actor"] born: "12 September 1985" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-30T22:34:14.555019+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Kani Kusruti ## Identity Kani Kusruti - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/kani-kusruti - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** kani-kusruti - **IMDb ID:** nm4225184 - **TMDB ID:** 1399177 - **Wikidata ID:** Q27917057 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kani_Kusruti, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27917057, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4225184/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1399177 Actor. Born 12 September 1985 in Trivandrum, Kerala, India. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 12 September 1985, Trivandrum, Kerala, India - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kani_Kusruti, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27917057, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4225184/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1399177 ## Fi1m on Kani Kusruti > Kani Kusruti stands still and lets the camera work out what her character will not say. It is a slow, theatre-bred way of acting, and in *All We Imagine as Light* it gave us the moment we remember most from a film we admire. A parcel comes from Germany with no note. Inside is a rice cooker, red and expensive, sent by a husband who has stopped ringing. Late that night in *All We Imagine as Light* (2024), Kani Kusruti's Prabha picks it up in the kitchen and holds it against her chest, and that is all she does. She does not cry. Payal Kapadia gives her no line and she does not look for one. That is Kusruti's method in a sentence: she keeps the face quiet and leaves us to work out what is going on behind it. She learned it on stage first. She began in theatre in Kerala in the early 2000s and spent two years at Lecoq's school of physical theatre in Paris, and it shows in how she can hold a body still without going slack. The film parts came slowly and were small: a debut in *Anyar* (2003), Zeba in a segment of *Kerala Cafe* (2009), Lajjo in *North 24 Kaatham* (2013), a mother in the action film *Spyder* (2017). Small parts do not ask for stillness; they ask you to be clear in ninety seconds and leave. The lead in Sajin Baabu's *Biriyaani* (2019), as Khadeeja, was the first time a film was built around her. Then 2024 brought two at once: Prabha for Kapadia, and Anila, a mother, in Shuchi Talati's *Girls Will Be Girls*, which we have not reviewed. The women she plays are hemmed in. Nurses, mothers, wives, migrants in other people's cities, women with obligations and not much room. What she brings to them is a refusal to explain. Prabha never tells Anu, the younger nurse Divya Prabha plays, how lonely she is; she tells her off for borrowing money, and the scenes between the two are the warmest in the film. We did not expect to be moved by a woman embracing a kitchen appliance, and we were, because Kusruti gave us nothing to hold on to but her hands and the cold metal, and made that enough. The method has a cost. A director who does not know what to do with a quiet actor will leave her at the edge of the frame with nothing to do, and the early supporting parts gave her little chance to show otherwise. Kusruti has also said she does not much relate to Prabha: "personally, I find it very hard to resonate my thoughts with Prabha's." We suspect the distance helped. She is not playing herself and she is not asking us to approve of the woman, only to watch her. Since 2024 she has taken more Hindi and Malayalam work and moved into producing. That may be the sensible move, since the parts she is best in are the ones nobody writes unless somebody insists. Kapadia insisted. We would like to see who does next. ## Biography Kani Kusruti is an Indian actress known primarily for her work in Malayalam cinema. Born on 12 September 1985 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, she trained in theatre at the School of Drama in Thrissur and at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. She first gained recognition for her performance in the 2009 anthology film *Kerala Cafe*. Kusruti received the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and the Best Actress award at the Moscow International Film Festival for her leading role in *Biriyaani* (2019). She is also known for *North 24 Kaatham* (2013). In 2024 she starred as Prabha in *All We Imagine as Light* and as Anila in *Girls Will Be Girls*, both of which received international festival acclaim. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, variety.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *All We Imagine as Light* (2024), Fi1m 84, as Prabha — [page](https://film.one/film/all-we-imagine-as-light.md) ## Complete filmography (52) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Assi* (2026), as Parima - *Ouseppinte Osiyathu* (2025), as Dhanya - *Mura* (2024), as Asha - *All We Imagine as Light* (2024), as Prabha — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/all-we-imagine-as-light.md) - *Girls Will Be Girls* (2024), as Anila - *Nagendran’s Honeymoons* (2024), series, as Thankam - *Thalaimai Seyalagam* (2024), series, as Durga - *Poacher* (2024), series, as Dina - *Killer Soup* (2024), series, as Kirthima Kadathanathan - *Kirkkan* (2023), as Farsana Rasheed - *Priyapettavan Piyush* (2023), series, Actor - *Vichithram* (2022), as Martha - *The Quarrel* (2022), as Sathi - *Pada* (2022), as Sheeja PK - *Forbidden* (2022), as Chaavi - *Super Sharanya* (2022), as Pedestrian (Cameo) - *Tryst With Destiny* (2021), series, as Ahalya - *Maharani* (2021), series, as Kaveri Sreedharan - *Biriyaani* (2021), as Khadeeja - *OK Computer* (2021), series, as Monalisa Paul - *The Discreet Charm of the Savarnas* (2020), Actor - *Tryst With Destiny* (2020), Actor - *She* (2019), as Vasu’s sister - *1956, Central Travancore* (2019), as Kela's wife - *The Tetrahedron* (2018), as Divya - *Theekuchiyum Panithulliyum* (2018), Actor - *Counterfeit Kunkoo* (2018), as Smita - *The Forsaken* (2017), Actor - *Spyder* (2017), as Bhairavadu / Sudalai's Mother - *Gi* (2017), as Gi - *Memories of a Machine* (2016), Actor - *Kalam* (2016), as Housekeeper - *The Strange Case of Shiva* (2015), Actor - *Pisaasu* (2014), as Angry husband's wife - *Burma* (2014), as Clara - *The Dolphins* (2014), as Varalakshmi - *Masala Republic* (2014), as AGS Officer Kani - *Oru Indian Pranayakadha* (2013), as Police Commissioner - *North 24 Kaatham* (2013), as Lajjo - *Hotel California* (2013), as Special Appearance - *Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla* (2013), Actor - *Karmayogi* (2012), Actor - *Urumi* (2011), as Bard in Chirakkal court - *Cocktail* (2010), as Elsa - *Shikkar* (2010), as Naxalite - *Kerala Cafe* (2009), as Zeba - *A Flowering Tree* (2007), Actor - *Ek Ruka Hua Faisla*, Actor - *The Last of Them Plagues*, Producer - *Padakkam*, Actor - *Eyes*, series, Actor - *Untitled Vidharth Film*, Actor ## Gallery - ![Kani Kusruti](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-5d30a954a0b4.jpg) Kani Kusruti — Ayyappancs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/KaniKusruti.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Kani Kusruti in 2025](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-ea1ab376e10f.jpg) Kani Kusruti in 2025 — SerChevalerie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Kani_Kusruti_in_2025_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Kani_Kusruti_in_2025_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Kani Kusruti, in a picture by Anjali Gopan (2018)](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-d0538649706d.jpg) Kani Kusruti, in a picture by Anjali Gopan (2018) — Anjali Gopan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/KaniKusruti_AG.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Director Payal Kapadia and Actress Kani Kusruti at All We Imagine As Light Press Conference at 2024 Cannes Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-9d76125b3115.jpg) Director Payal Kapadia and Actress Kani Kusruti at All We Imagine As Light Press Conference at 2024 Cannes Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Director_Payal_Kapadia_and_Actress_Kani_Kusruti_at_All_We_Imagine_As_Light_Press_Conference_at_2024_Cannes_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Director_Payal_Kapadia_and_Actress_Kani_Kusruti_at_All_We_Imagine_As_Light_Press_Conference_at_2024_Cannes_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Kani Kusruti](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-b36f59305253.jpg) Kani Kusruti — Image via TMDB - ![Kani Kusruti](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-57415a721c54.jpg) Kani Kusruti — Image via TMDB - ![Kani Kusruti](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-aec522a06a44.jpg) Kani Kusruti — Image via TMDB - ![Kani Kusruti](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-90bcf0dbbd9c.jpg) Kani Kusruti — Image via TMDB - ![Kani Kusruti](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-47ee2a5be543.jpg) Kani Kusruti — Image via TMDB - ![Kani Kusruti](https://film.one/media/person/4129876/gallery-d0b42e714737.jpg) Kani Kusruti — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Other awards — 1 won - Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress 2020: Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress (won), for *Biriyaani* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/kani-kusruti