Everybody has strong views, they just choose not to express them all the time: Kani Kusruti

After 30 years, when 'All We Imagine As Light', directed by Payal Kapadia, made Indian cinema and Indians proud by winning the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the big win was a moment of double elation for people in Kerala as two Malayalam actors, Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha, were part of the award-winning film. Kani Kusruti shares about Cannes, the film, Payal, and much more.

Moments of joy

It is definitely a moment of happiness. The director, Payal, really deserves this award, and we are all happy for her. It's a proud moment for India, for sure, but more than that, many women were part of the film, representing India. Maybe because of that, I feel like the award, especially, was won by all women in India. 

Anjali Menon's social media post, Women of Malayalam Cinema

I agree with what Anjali ma’am said to a certain level. But we cannot refer to particular movies alone. In some films, the story doesn't demand female characters. In such cases, we cannot simply include a character for name sake. Also, the makers of the film have the freedom to make decisions about whether to include or exclude female characters in their story. 

Over 200 films are released in Malayalam every year. But along with other women, I used to wonder too: how are female characters portrayed in the movies? How are they written for the story? 

We have a lot of wonderful writers in the industry; how are their roles written for the movies that require female characters? Is the world of women represented the way it really is by the writers? Why do certain movies don't have strong female characters in them? 

When certain movies are celebrated, we wish they had an interesting female character as well. Consider ‘Aavesham’ as an example. Fahadh has given a very good performance. But when I watched the movie, I wished it had an interesting female character as well. 

It is true that we cannot include a character unnecessarily in every story. And yes, every gender is important; we all co-exist in this world. However, I wish that female characters, when they are written for a story, even if they don't have a full-length role in the movie, represented the world of real women. 

Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light

I had auditioned for the role. Payal had written the story six years ago. After watching a short film of mine, she contacted me about the role now played by Divya in the movie. But due to various reasons, the movie was postponed. Later in the year, I auditioned for a different role and was selected. The role played by Divya is that of a younger woman.

All We Imagine As Light is a movie that talks about people from different cities and towns who migrate to a big city like Mumbai for work. All the characters in this film are from different places and have moved to Mumbai for survival. It shows how different people try to fit in, how some people win, some people lose, and how sometimes the system turns unsupportive and forces people to leave the city. It's a story of friendship, kinship, sisterhood, acceptance, survival, inclusivity, etc. 

Politics, opinions, and solidarity

We don't always express our opinions to everyone. Sometimes we share it with our friends, sometimes with people we know, and in this case, everyone may not know about it. But sometimes we express them on social media or in public spaces. 

I believe every human being has a viewpoint on everything. But they don't choose to express or talk about it all the time, which is also alright. I do not react to everything as well. It's not necessary to have knowledge about everything.

But when I decided to go to Cannes, I was determined to declare solidarity towards Palestine. It's not just me. A lot of people have pointed out various issues, such as crime against women in work spaces. A lot of actors have protested and declared solidarity against so many issues there. 

Upcoming works

I am currently working on a web series directed by Manu Ashokan. Shooting is going on in Kochi. The team was pretty helpful. I had gone to Canne between the shoots. They rescheduled and postponed the shoot so that I could go.