Kani Kusruti, the acclaimed actor known for her roles in 'All We Imagine as Light' and 'Girls Will Be Girls,' has spoken candidly about her approach to acting, emphasizing the importance of maintaining mental health by not fully internalizing characters. In an excerpt from the book 'Ashes to Light: Stories of Hope Towards Gender Justice,' edited by Priyadarshini Bhattacharya and published by Penguin Random House, Kusruti reveals that early in her career, directors demanded she become the character, leaving her feeling wrecked. She recalls walking away from sets drained, hating acting. Today, she draws a firm line, refusing to indulge in suffering for the sake of authenticity.
Learning to Step In and Out of Roles
Kusruti credits her training under teachers like Jacques Lecoq and Koodiyattam guru Gopalan Nair Venu (Venuji) for teaching her invaluable techniques. She learned to step into a role, embody it, and then step out without carrying its wounds. She describes acting as akin to manipulating a puppet—moving and shaping it without becoming it. This method, she says, keeps her healthy and protects her boundaries. As a woman in an industry that romanticizes suffering as part of the craft, she insists on drawing that line.
Conscious Choices and Vulnerability
Kusruti emphasizes that acting is about making conscious choices. Her approach shifts with each story, character, film style, and director's vision. For 'All We Imagine as Light' and 'Girls Will Be Girls,' her processes were different. She chooses to be vulnerable for a role only when it is the only method left to serve the story, and even then, she promises herself to take care of her mind afterward. This awareness and negotiation are crucial, she says.
Her clarity stems from her upbringing. Her parents were deeply reflective and introspective, encouraging open conversations about what was happening inside her body and mind and in the world. That upbringing attuned her to her own boundaries—a gift in a field where lines between self and performance can blur.
Workforce Changes in the Film Industry
Kusruti also highlights a significant shift in the film industry: the quiet restructuring of its workforce. When she started, female cinematographers or women working in the light unit were unimaginable. These spaces were unquestioned male domains. Now, on the set of 'Girls Will Be Girls,' the crew was predominantly female. She has worked with women directors of photography and women handling lights—tasks once considered beyond them not due to ability but because of entrenched hierarchy.
This change, she argues, is not just about representation but about power. The structure of a film set reflects deeper social hierarchies. As more women and marginalized voices enter previously invisible spaces, the power dynamic inevitably shifts. It is slow but happening. The real transformation lies not only in the stories told on screen but in who holds the camera, shapes the narrative, and decides what is seen and what remains in the shadows.
