After finding acclaim for her lead performance in the Malayalam film Biriyaani in 2019, Kani Kusruti’s stock continues to rise with back-t...
After finding acclaim for her lead performance in the Malayalam film Biriyaani in 2019, Kani Kusruti’s stock continues to rise with back-to-back roles in the Hindi web series OK Computer and Maharani.
The Kerala-born theatre actor had been appearing in feature-length Malayalam productions since 2009’s Kerala Cafe. She attracted warm notices for the short films Memories of a Machine (2016) and Sundance selection Counterfeit Kunkoo (2018).
Sajin Baabu’s Biriyaani starred Kusruti as a Muslim woman abandoned by her husband and ostracised because of her brother’s involvement with the Islamic State. The role offered her “an opportunity to play a character with a beginning, middle, and end”, Kusruti told Scroll.in.
Trained in physical theatre in Paris, Kusruti got a chance to let her hair down in the sci-fi series OK Computer, in which she played police constable Monalisa Paul. In the fiction series Maharani, the 35-year-old actor played the administrative aide of Rani, Bihar’s female chief minister. Excerpts from an interview.
Your weakness in Hindi has been worked into both characters in ‘OK Computer’ and ‘Maharani’.
Yes, that was a plus for Maharani, because the character is supposed to be from the South, either Tamil Nadu or Kerala. Monalisa in OK Computer is also Malayali. I actually say no to many Hindi things that come my way because I don’t speak the language.
For Counterfeit Kunkoo, I had to speak bits...
