'I Don't Know How 2025 Will Turn Out'

'When I go to act in a film, I don't think of the journey.'

As her film All We Imagine As Light bags a Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Award nomination, Kani Kusruti is being feted across the world. But she is not getting carried away.

The powerhouse actor, who started with a bit part in 2003 as a bus passenger, has had three releases this year.

"I did Girls Will Be Girls first, in 2022," she tells Subhash K Jha.

"All We Imagine Has Light happened in 2023. But both films came out in 2024. That is a coincidence that can happen anytime for actors. Just because in a certain year, a bunch of films come out, it doesn't mean that that was a prolific year for the actor.

"I didn't work last year.

"This year, I worked the least; I was mostly traveling.

"In 2021-2022, I worked in a lot of things. I was shooting for Killer Soup, Poacher, Maharani and Girls Will Be Girls. Those were the years I was prolific.

"In Mura I just have a few scenes. I was happy to work with Hridhu Haroon again because he is in Mura and All We Imagine As Light.

"I don't believe my career has changed in 2024 because I don't believe that the journey of a film is how one's career changes. I don't define my career that way. When I go to act in a film, I don't think of the journey. So I didn't think about where All We Imagine As Light would take me."

Kani is as surprised by the global success of All We Imagine As Light as the rest of the world.

"I am also discovering it while it's happening. I think the story and Payal Kapadia's language resonates universally. It is poetic and subtle. I think the subject and story can happen to anyone and anywhere, though it is a regional film in a way. I believe that anything you speak region-specific translates globally."

Interestingly, Payal Kapadia came to Kani with another character in All We Imagine As Light.

"Payal did not come to me asking me to play Prabha. She reached out to me eight or nine years ago to play Anu (played by Divya Prabha) because she watched a film of mine, a short film called Memories Of A Machine.

"At that time, Payal was still developing the script. She sent me those drafts and said she's keeping me in her mind to play Anu. It took many, many years for the film to finally happen. By that time, I crossed that age (to play Anu).

"When Payal came to me and said, it's finally going to happen now, I told her that I won't be able to even imagine myself playing that younger part anymore.

"So she asked me if I would like to audition for the other part? I said okay. That's how I ended up playing Prabha. She is lonely. She has a partner, but it's almost like she doesn't have him. That's the case with a lot of Indian women and men.

"I don't know if she's clinging on to hope. But I think she finally manages to move on and finds her own closure."

Kani gives another outstanding performance in Shuchi Talati's Girls will Be Girls.

"Both directors Shuchi and Payal are very different. Their process is very different. When I read All We Imagine As Light I immediately understood the story and what Prabha is all about.

"But when I read Girls Will Be Girls, I didn't understand my character Anila that quickly. I talked to Shuchi about it. When my co-actor Preeti Panigrahi came on board and when she played Mira, that's when I started understanding Anila. So it took time to slowly understand Anila. It was more interesting to play Anila because I haven't been given a character like that."

Kani wants to take it easy in 2025.

"I hope I can be home for some time, that's what I would love, just some time for myself," she says.

"There are one or two stories that I am fascinated about. Let's see how it's going. I don't know how 2025 will turn out.

"I only care about the story and whether I feel like I want to be part of the story. I'm not so much into my character.

"Sometimes, we don't get the ideal (set-up). It can be, oh, I like my character or sometimes it can be like, oh, I would like to work with this director. But the most ideal place for me as an artist would be that I want to be part of a particular story and its way of storytelling. That would be the best reason for choosing to work with someone."