- 4 days ago
“It was never my dream to be an actor,” Kani Kusruti tells Tatsam Mukherjee, reflecting on her early days in theatre and her gradual move into cinema.
In their conversation, Kusruti describes her time at L'École Internationale de Théâtre and how that foundation led to roles in Kerala cinema, short films, and eventually, feature films and web series. She points to her work in Counterfeit Kunkoo and All We Imagine As Light as turning points, bringing her wider recognition.
Comparing her experiences in Mumbai and South Indian film industries, Kusruti says, “Bombay shoots are more organised, but I find a different kind of creative satisfaction in Malayalam cinema.” She speaks candidly about typecasting and the difficulty of maintaining individuality as an actor in Indian cinema.
“Being nominated for awards is an honour, but I’m always critical of my own work,” she adds. Kusruti discusses her early indifference to cinema, her ongoing preference for theatre, and how her relationship with film has evolved.
Throughout the interview, Kusruti emphasises the importance of making career choices on her own terms, navigating both mainstream and independent projects with a focus on personal values.
#KaniKusruti #Interview #Cinema #IndianCinema #AllWeImagineAsLight #GirlsWillBeGirls #KillerSoup #Poacher
In their conversation, Kusruti describes her time at L'École Internationale de Théâtre and how that foundation led to roles in Kerala cinema, short films, and eventually, feature films and web series. She points to her work in Counterfeit Kunkoo and All We Imagine As Light as turning points, bringing her wider recognition.
Comparing her experiences in Mumbai and South Indian film industries, Kusruti says, “Bombay shoots are more organised, but I find a different kind of creative satisfaction in Malayalam cinema.” She speaks candidly about typecasting and the difficulty of maintaining individuality as an actor in Indian cinema.
“Being nominated for awards is an honour, but I’m always critical of my own work,” she adds. Kusruti discusses her early indifference to cinema, her ongoing preference for theatre, and how her relationship with film has evolved.
Throughout the interview, Kusruti emphasises the importance of making career choices on her own terms, navigating both mainstream and independent projects with a focus on personal values.
#KaniKusruti #Interview #Cinema #IndianCinema #AllWeImagineAsLight #GirlsWillBeGirls #KillerSoup #Poacher
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00:00most things I act also I don't like my acting also I like only probably one shot or another
00:05shot of mine it was not about acting for me when I was doing theater theater is never about only
00:12actors or only directors or writers it's like a performing art it's a lot of things together
00:18put together so that's how it was for me I'm joined by an actor who is really like been making waves
00:31all around the world welcome Kariku Shuti welcome to Outlook it is such an honor to have you over here
00:37we're doing this series called the atypical protagonist where we're actually interviewing
00:41actors who don't necessarily fit into you know like the genre definition of a Bollywood hero or
00:49heroine and still you know trying to carve their niche in that environment I mean you were there
00:55at the critics choice I want to start off over there it was quite the night you had like I think
01:00you practically won in every category that you were nominated for not in the best actress but okay
01:05that was my friend oh not in the best actress okay oh interesting Darshan of God which is best what a
01:11night for you to have I mean it was kind of surreal I'm assuming like when you are an aspiring actor
01:18such an evening is kind of something that you feel like kind of dreamt of where you have multiple
01:23nominations you have a lot of work no I don't know I've never thought of something like that
01:32actually okay the thing is I just happened to be an actor and it took a long while for me to even
01:39you know kind of accept that oh okay so this is my thing now okay I am an actor okay so it was a very
01:48slow process for me to even accept that oh maybe it's not a hobby anymore it's probably the main thing
01:54it's not something that you do sometimes oh so that's how it's especially acting in films was never
02:00the main thing being on screen is also a thing part of acting or part of your life that very slowly it
02:08came into me so to be an actor was also not my dream or something that I thought ever so no this is not
02:15something I thought so it came as a surprise when the nominations came only I was very happy that is
02:21also because sometimes it's not that every every actors get this kind of work but it all came in a
02:26in the same in a certain year so yeah why it happened like that I think but it was very very
02:32humbling to get nominated in all those categories and also along with a lot of actors that I absolutely
02:39admire especially to be nominated along with the Darshana or Urvashi ma'am Urvashi ma'am is someone I
02:45think we all everyone in Canada absolutely adore her so just to just to feel that was already way more
02:52than enough actually what do you think like your 20 year old self probably you know like
02:59what would they think about such an evening where you're you know like nominated with these icons
03:05there are so many of these like really like very very talented people in that room
03:10is including your director for All We Imagine and your co-stars in Girls Be Girls I mean there's so
03:17many like wonderful people yeah again that's what I'm saying when I was 20 year old I hardly thought
03:25of cinema only as unless as an audience only I consumed it as like a viewer like oh this cinema or this
03:32film was good or something and I was quite a critic I continued to be so I don't even like all the things
03:39I don't like most things I act also the I don't like my acting also I like only probably one shot or
03:46another shot of mine so those were not never the thing but if I were to think my 20 year old self
03:53would be happy for like for example there are actresses or male female all actors that I admire
03:59and if if I like someone and I think oh they should they should be able to you know get more work they
04:06should be able to be in share spaces where other amazing artists do so to I can imagine a 20 year old
04:12self of myself of mine getting happy for someone who actually if I admire that person if I admire that
04:17artist or an actor it's possible I could be like that's really nice that that kind of a thing
04:23happened like that but I don't see for me anything like that I think I was just like in many interviews
04:30I've said I think I'm an I not I think I'm pretty sure but people say you can't really speak like
04:35that but it's not about me I objectively I think I'm I I'm an average actor and I work hard a bit and
04:41that that last year it just a lot of projects I did in the previous years it all came out at the
04:48same time and it happened to be most of them used to be good work so this all happens because of that
04:55that's how I see it and I even when I was 20 I don't think I mean these are validation these can
05:01make us happy but I think ideally it is good work coming to us it is about how audience perceive it
05:07and and continue to work that opportunity to continue to work is what an art I think genuinely
05:13make an artist happy and also audience's reaction and then like critiques and then for like everything
05:19I think that is kind of the order of it I feel at least for me too yeah I don't know like these kind
05:25of things are not the thing anyway I think it's it's a character it's a story that you read you get
05:30wow or some actors that you really love if you get to work with them it's not to be in the same
05:36room of them that I mean we would love to be working together right so it was really nice to see
05:42everyone it was like surreal to meet a lot of people a lot of actors I admire was there was there
05:48on that day and like as a cliche goes like you were mentioning also I mean it just happened that you
05:53know like a lot of your like releases came out around around in the same year a lot of like
05:59your hard work kind of like paid off where you'd been like working constantly I think you've been
06:03working for like 15 years right by 2020 actually huh but I've been working as an actor for 25 years
06:10I started when I was in standard yeah but in theater in cinema here and there I've done like
06:16tiny scenes I don't know but not really one or two films only or some um you know like the
06:21interim and room there is this place called seated and there is a lot of girls comes to learn
06:26women comes to learn filmmaking and sometimes they have diploma films I used to just act here
06:32and there a little bit but it was also not because I liked acting all these women were friends of my
06:37parents or something and they're like hey can you come do this thing like that it was just for fun
06:41yeah like as a film I think in 2010 2009 actually I started doing before and I was in school also I've done
06:50one part in a one-day shoot in a Malayalam feature film but otherwise I was very much active in theater
06:56between 2000 to 2010 like very much like every year going to Bharang or Prithvi festival so I started when I was 15
07:05do you remember the moment like when you decided to become like an actor in film like what was your
07:10relationship with films like growing up I always like were you fascinated fascinated by films at all
07:16no okay in childhood absolutely not but my parents were such film boss they would go watch every film
07:24so they would take me along for even second shows that were not very common in Kerala back then for
07:30the whole family to go watch a show in the night you know mostly men used to be in those yeah so but
07:38my parents used to go and I they would take me along most films in five minutes I would fall asleep
07:44oh wow okay yeah I would I used to find it very boring I'm like why would everybody sit in a dark
07:50room and watch I never was fascinated by cinema like that much but whenever it was like you know
07:55um grandeur like jurassic park or like films like that or independence day or like films like that
08:02like really larger scale I used to be very amazed like very much like I want to watch those like
08:08anything about sky and universe and uh you know like those or like some creature coming or aliens
08:14coming those those films I liked everything sci-fi films yeah sci-fi or fantasy fantasy anything human
08:21story I'm like I know this when I look out I know why are they showing me the same thing
08:26I'm still the same in that by the way I still I don't want to see human stories I feel this
08:33so I was not but then dance I used to like so tamil films when we watch or some item dance or like
08:39some dance number come I am especially Prabhu Deva sir and airman sir both of their work to coming
08:45together I would be very I will just get up and watch that and then go to sleep when the story
08:49happens I didn't want to watch acting was also not my thing or anything but then very slow when I was
08:5515 or 16 one of my cousin we were talking she was asking me because I started doing theater she came
09:01to watch my play and she was like so you must be interested in she's very bright girl so she was
09:06like you must be interested in acting so what are the authors you like what are the directors you like
09:10who are the which are the films you like and I'm I've never even paid attention to directors I'm like
09:15who are directors I just thought it's Mohala's film it's Mamuti's film you know like that is that
09:22much I was horrible at these things and I was like okay okay and then I started telling her some
09:27films I'm like these these films Malayalam cinema I like she said oh so you like Patmarajan and I'm
09:32then I realized oh there is one person who you know wrote the story screenplay and directed this
09:38so that's when I was I started being a little more curious about these things then I started
09:42watching films properly while I like sci-fi or fantasy films I also realized I I like some human
09:50story films as well plus I also realized I like a bit of surrealism or absurdism coming into the
09:58genre so all that I started exploring but still a film was something that I would go and watch
10:02my because it was not about acting for me when I was doing theater theater is never about only
10:09actors or only directors or writers it's like a performing art it's a lot of things together put
10:15together so that's how it it was for me then I think by 2009 and 10 after I studied theater more
10:23further studies I did because I wanted to know more about a certain style of theater then when I came
10:28back I realized that there is hardly any money I have and I don't want to like you know ask my
10:33parents I mean though my in my family my mother only earned some and then I don't want and they
10:39were also very clear after you are 2022 we support a certain time and then you have to find your thing
10:43right so I was like okay maybe then I used to get offers in Malayalam cinema even in 2002-3-4 around
10:50but I used to say no to it because the one film I did I was like I don't think it's my cup of tea
10:56you know just to do some part of a whole story you do action and then you just add that bit
11:02then at one later you do another scene it didn't come to me or I didn't understand it because in
11:08theater you were slowly slowly making it you know like it feels like you're part of even pre-production
11:14in cinema that's how you feel about theater like you slowly part you make it it's also yours
11:19and then you end up doing it and then the whole thing you perform and then another show you can
11:25perform differently so it was like a different thing for me but cinema was like oh you act this
11:30part of the story then you act that part of this some people you don't even meet and it's you don't
11:34need to meet and I was like I'm not enjoying this process I felt and so I didn't go for a long time
11:41then I when I came back and I realized no maybe people were calling I realized that I will make
11:46more money in this and which will help me sustain is when actually I started doing it I still
11:51thought it's even act I always used to be like maybe I'm not even an actor I used to think that
11:56even in theater I wanted like actress production where you also get to direct a bit you are also
12:01involved in the screen play and script developing so I thought I'll enjoy other things because
12:05acting alone was not something that I was enjoying so much so I was like but then I think doing in film
12:12for years then particularly going for these classes one is one of my best friends her name is Kapila
12:19she's a kudiyatam artist and she's an amazing actress so her father offers these classes called
12:25Navarasa Sabana so I think going to that class and going to that workshop a couple of times
12:32started making me like acting a bit I think that is when I started actually like paying attention
12:39to it more than ever before and that's what I would say did they did they like make you do like
12:46exercises that made you like that really opened up a part of your brain that you didn't know earlier
12:51no it must be I mean I think anything that you learn new it does I mean there is neuro classes I mean
12:57like I I pretty sure if you learn something new there is new things opens up so I'm sure it happened by
13:04default but I think it was also the approach they have and their classes made me pay attention to
13:11just the single thing called acting alone for once and I was like there is something and also
13:16actually my school also I really loved the one I went to Paris but that was not about cinema acting
13:22or anything it was more a lot of physical acting like slapstick comedy or anything physical and all that
13:28so that was something else you're never supposed to put your psychological thoughts in that process at all
13:33you have to just react as it is and it's really fun to do like that so that's what I used to enjoy
13:40before yeah I mean I still enjoy that actually I mean you kind of have like the breakthrough year like
13:45like 2024 does you know you have killer soup you have butcher you have all we imagine and obviously like
13:51girls will be girls you can have the year that you do has your life changed at all like I mean now that
13:58there is significantly more recognition I would imagine right compared to like before 2024 and after 2024
14:03I mean what is very sweet is like a lot of fellow actors or fellow artists that I really admire and
14:10I mean you get to meet them or like there is a communication or like it opened up to a lot
14:17more different connections for me but work-wise most of the work that have come to me this year
14:24it was something already coming into I don't feel it is because of what happened last year I don't
14:30know I mean there is one or two things have come like that but it's not like oh this happened and
14:34suddenly your life changed the change is only like it used to be a little you know you feel a little
14:41coy when you go out like too many sometimes you know now I feel better just calm down otherwise it was
14:47too much of something like you go out every way oh this thing this thing and I was not I'm I feel
14:53better now good it happened but good I it's all I was asking Adash Gaurav about you know what changed
15:00after the white tiger because he was doing like a bunch of these like tiny roles up till his first
15:06leading role in the Netflix film and he said suddenly like in the offers my character's screen time just
15:14went up so for me that kind of change happened not now I think it was the Iwana state award in
15:21Kerala that is when for me that kind of a change happened since then oh it it was not this that
15:27was for biryani yeah yeah how do you rate the industries like working in Kerala vis-a-vis working
15:35in Mumbai like what is one thing one industry does better than the other I mean you could probably tell
15:41me one each if there is such a thing I mean I have worked most mostly in Hindi now I think that
15:49in Kerala right somehow but both Kerala Bombay some in Tamil Nadu these are the only three places I
15:57have worked in that I find Bombay shoots most organized and in communication to actors from
16:06producers actors to directors to all logistical stuff to or day-to-day planning of what time
16:13should starts to all that is kind of you know more professional in Bombay for me than south especially
16:19it's like I think it's been running like that for a long time that it's in everyone's report so
16:25there is hardly any chaos or miscommunication uh very rarely I have experienced that in Bombay as well
16:31where I'm quite surprised also oh okay in Bombay also this can happen like that but mostly at least
16:3799% of the time whoever I've worked with it's been very smooth communication there is no and also
16:44one thing I feel is about payment and everything it's very clear it will be on time and very rarely it
16:52all goes on a haywire but in Tamil and Malayalam in all these things it's they are way behind to have a
17:00contract paying people on time to everything is there are some people who keeps it but it's not a
17:07standard practice there yet in Bombay I feel no matter who you work with at least whatever is
17:15promised and everything generally gets delivered and all that but while I say this I find Malayalam
17:22stories or like the screenplay and how people work and the sense you know like generally the sense of
17:29how to make this I find in Malayalam industry a little further than Tamil or Bombay when I think
17:36of the creative aspect of it even while they might be doing it in a chaotic way they might make the scene
17:43finally the the process of making that creative uh the the art or the that story or the film that
17:51you're making the the process might be slightly chaotic and which will make other people suffer also
17:56while that is all there the end product I mostly love what is made in Malayalam than Tamil or in
18:03Hindi generally I'm not meaning proportionately if I ever could look at it but in terms of
18:10everything else I any day prefer Bombay yeah you mentioned this period between like you know like 2009 and
18:172019 so the first time I uh remember noting okay who is this actor I mean I I've seen her somewhere
18:25and uh she seems like really interesting it was a short film I saw of yours I think it was called
18:31counterfeit and I thought it was like it was such a fascinating film and you were so good in that film
18:36but tell me a little bit about that decade where you were doing short films and like what intrigued you
18:42about the about the format of the short film no I mean no such thing I mean were you just exploring
18:49like what were you uh no I was just like short films I used to like in terms of I was just like okay even
18:55if you end up doing something bad only some people can watch it it's okay it was more like somebody
19:00wants to make a feature film before feature film they're trying out something so it's like we all are
19:04trying out something was the space for short film in my mind I didn't recognize short film as a form
19:10in the beginning I mean it's my fault but I used to think that it's like all of us are trying out
19:15something how to relate with this something like that so I used to feel more free with short films
19:20but that was not the case whatever came to me I used to do but in that decade I also there were
19:24there were two years I was outside I was working with a French theater company uh 2012 and 13 and then
19:31I was also not acting for some time I was just fully practicing sitar 2014 and 13 I was 15 that time
19:38I got very much involved in it or invested in it and then after 2015-16 that time whatever short
19:46films came I did it was not I also did a Malayalam serial also that time it's not like oh I chose to
19:52do only short film nothing like that it's just like okay that's what happened in actually Biryani was
19:57short also in 2018 uh beginning right it came out much late you know okay okay okay 2018 is that
20:05correct yeah 2018 beginning is when they were shooting in some season I did that also at that
20:10time so it was just like that it's not something particularly I was choosing the thing is like
20:16a lot of short films I did is mostly directed by women and I was very happy to just work with them
20:23because it was also not easy for women to just go and make a film and they have written like
20:29different kind of female characters and I was just like very happy to work with them and to explore
20:34with them and all that it was but it was not like oh I actively went out and checked for it or
20:39I actively decided I'll do just short enough thing it came to me and it felt nice and I felt like a
20:45connection between the director and me hence I did it it was nothing else and I felt little uh like for
20:51example a feature film you can feel that more responsibility in terms of yeah if you have a
20:57like you know uh throughout character if you may have to shoulder the film in a way and all that
21:03like you know okay tiny tiny step like one can try something like that that film also has Vijay
21:11yeah yeah yeah yeah like he's your husband right correct correct and I don't think he's had a
21:18breakout at that point I think when he did that film but he's been a friend of Reema since a long
21:23time before before that short film Reema did a music video Vijay was in that as well like it was so
21:29nice to like see you guys again like uh in in okay computer together yeah yeah so we both were also
21:34very you know like he used to joke about it like oh we were in a completely different world now
21:39yeah I want to like talk at length about okay computer because I think it's a very interesting
21:45show if I mean it didn't like fully work for me but then it's also the kind of like humor that's
21:50like so hard to nail right the whole slapstick almost like stoner comedy anyway but it was not
21:55just about slaps it was also very whimsical I think it was quite whimsical and absurd space and
22:01everything so yeah yeah I want to uh talk to you a little bit about like you know like mainstream
22:06cinema anywhere like whether it's uh down south or whether it's uh like in Bombay I mean they have
22:12these like you know very rigid dictates for aspiring actors like you know you have to like look a certain
22:16way you have to speak in a certain way uh like you have to fit into the mold of you know like what
22:21it takes to be a star actor or actress however you want to like I mean that process when you're you
22:28know like probably uh trying to carve your niche in a place like Bombay like uh do those rigid dictates ever
22:35like plant doubt in yourself am I good enough do I fit in over here is this for me first of all I
22:43never came to Bombay like that right okay I think Bombay came to me that kind of things I think from
22:50childhood only I see either you are so you know like you can't live without acting that kind of fashion
22:57I don't have that kind of fashion for acting I have fellow friends who are that kind of fashion they
23:03have and they have probably have to go to Bombay and they have to do things and I have friends who
23:07are being successful also I have friends who still not getting that enough work all all of that is
23:13there but I never had that so I always been like sitting wherever I am and if some like even
23:18including counterfeit kung fu or like any any short films even pile pile actually reached out to me
23:25in 2017 or something for this film and I was supposed to do the part I knew actually she's seen a short
23:31film of mine uh memories of a machine and then she wrote to me and uh she said Kani I was like and
23:39she also haven't gone to with any short film of Hustu Khan or anything at that time even I'm like
23:44nobody here just like oh there is a girl who's in FTIL it was just like that so that's what I'm saying
23:49I have no problem um with people who's being trying out because I think people who have passion for it
23:55should be doing it because I did not have that kind of mad passion for this I mean just make like
24:02at home doing my stuff and okay this is coming okay I'll do but I've there is one thing like I love
24:09doing comedy so I'll be like I wish I got that like that I can always feel I think only that comedy is
24:16the only genre probably I I can feel sad if like if I I didn't get a part or I I can see something
24:23uh on um like watch a film or watch a series and I'm like oh that person didn't do I mean only if
24:29that actor didn't do enough well for me I'm like oh shit I could have done better than that I should
24:34have done it like something like that or or if I see if I don't do well I'm like shit my my friend
24:39actor she would have done it better like all that all that I feel but only comedy I feel that missing out
24:46I can feel but otherwise I'm I I'm like whatever comes I'll do okay like I'm a bit uh laid back
24:53that so do you think that that's worked out in your favor like not uh you know like being uh like
25:01absolutely consumed by acting I mean has that like worked in your favor I don't know I don't know
25:07maybe after many years I can say now right now I'm not able to say but uh like you said that do I
25:14will I fit in all these things you know those are things that I probably never had in my life or
25:19even if I had I would be 11 or 12 once I grew up once I was 15 or 16 I think I I am pretty sure I
25:28always believed everybody fits in the world and I don't think that will ever come in my way I don't
25:33think anybody can do that to me no that is not there I was listening to this like a recent interview
25:39by kokvinas and sharma where you know she was basically talking about uh being typecast as this
25:44woman of substance which kind of which she thinks kind of like you know like hindered her career in
25:50some way because she also wanted to play like problematic characters and she just wasn't being
25:54offered those because everyone perceived her to be this woman of substance you know like who with the
26:00right politics and everything uh I mean do you there is a problematic characters are written also in
26:06Hindi cinema I'm just curious agree agree I mean I wish like somebody writes that and everybody gets
26:12all kinds of characters but I don't even see much why like you know range of female characters are
26:20written also so much in Hindi cinema so much like you know like all kinds of people right we are all
26:26kinds of people absolutely absolutely like has that happened to you that was going to be my question
26:32yeah yeah happened to you where you know you're only approached for like a certain yeah kind of
26:37roles like can you elaborate a little bit on that it's not just me everybody I think even stars are
26:43approached like that in this country if there is a hit for a star that star is approached for the same
26:50kind of genre same kind of character for the next two three years till another hit comes I don't feel
26:56bad because I think all actors are treated like that that in that we are very democratic we will
27:01only typecast jokes apart I'm saying um there's two ways that I try to approach I mean I would love
27:08to approach I have not been able to approach like that the thing is sometimes it's just like what
27:13Pankhna ma'am said is absolutely right like because they're asking her to have a certain personality
27:18in any whatever no matter what you do so that happens that's really sad because sometimes you may get a
27:23police role and then you remember in even now like especially in the 80s and 90s even in Malayalam cinema
27:29there is somebody who is doing a police role he's always or she's always doing police character in
27:33every film if there's a doctor there's a doctor look there's a police look so this used to happen
27:39the only thing was can I mean there are a lot of police people there's a lot of doctors all of them
27:45are different no but no teachers are alike like you know like we can always bring that character
27:49differences no even if your job is the same and even if you're the same even if you're a police you
27:54can be like very stubborn you can be like very laid back police not but still bright but not bright
27:59like you can make all these combinations but most of the time directors will come and tell us no do
28:04the exact what you did in the previous we want only that imagine I am only gonna get teachers or I'm
28:10only gonna get nurse all my life and I can play some you know like 50 different kind of nurses that
28:15would be so amazing and commentable but what happens is like no do what you did before try that
28:22they give references of your own something so that always happens but I am not even sad about
28:28it like I said I feel everyone is including star actors too all actors are approached that way like
28:34because I think it's the people are scared to take any kind of risk where whatever worked last time
28:40should probably will work again so you know let's not risk it kind of
28:44have you auditioned in mumbai yeah okay and what's your experience been like like with the
28:51casting agencies and everything like what all my work I have done I have auditioned torture I have
28:56auditioned killer soup I have auditioned files film also I have auditioned she came for me to do the
29:01other character but by the time she ended up making the film I grew a lot so she I was like file I don't
29:08think that character she said do you want to audition for the other part because other part she was not
29:12thinking much about me because when she came to me I was only 31 and she was saying we'll play
29:17a 26 year old or 27 year old while I was 31 was the idea but then I have auditioned for that also I
29:23have auditioned for I think recently I did a Hindi film is the only time I have not auditioned I think
29:30that has been one change after all we imagine or girls will be girls I think some Hindi project came to me
29:35and they said no no audition you just come but I don't mind audition I actually like all that I don't mind
29:41the reading I don't mind you know like you also get an idea will you be able to do it or not you
29:47know I actually like it a little bit at least a rehearsal I would prefer if they don't do an
29:51audition because then in the rehearsal you get a sense that what's your you know what is happening
29:57exactly otherwise I always audition or I think only in Malayalam and Tamil they don't audition
30:02you're walking down the red carpet in Cannes 2024 for I'll be imagine it's premiere tell me a little
30:11bit about like what's going through your head when you're like walking down the red carpet
30:14I mean because we were there are two days before or three days before I don't remember it exactly now
30:20and when because we used to walk on that same street and we could see everyday car red carpet
30:26happening right there and so the previous day when I walked I saw it and I was like oh it's like a
30:32live performance which I I was very happy because I am a I am from theater I like anything live I
30:38like to interact with people on a live you know like rather you know so that way I was very much
30:45excited to otherwise I was like what red carpet is now but I was like wow this is so good like you
30:50walk and you're like hey like you know that is I just like that idea of you know like a I I have
30:57done sometimes modeling but not as a modern just because as an actor do you want to make you know
31:01model like that way so anytime that I've done just getting photo shoot I never enjoyed that but there
31:08is one one or two times I have went for Ram as a showstopper and I absolutely loved it I was like
31:15I love being on stage I love that live feeling that I can look into the person and there is a
31:21communication live that time red carpet felt similar like and that's exactly what I mean like I just love
31:26all the K we are going and I think whatever we did it just spontaneously happened because this
31:33this song was also played in the film and Divya's character and Chai Ji's character dance for this and
31:40so being you and Payal said that's we are going to play and I'm like oh so when because the day we
31:44shot and also everybody was just dancing so that song came so everyone just like spontaneously just
31:50happened nothing else but we were just happy and happy also after the shoot a lot of some crew who
31:56could come they came everybody was there to be together just more of that kind of a happy moment
32:02but I think I like very this live and those things so I think I really enjoyed it I mean at least to me
32:11there was no such thing I was just very happy there to be with everyone and this song was there I
32:15remember these photographers they would call you like hey look here so it was like a it was for me
32:21the performance element is between the photographer and like there is something going on there yeah
32:26that that I enjoyed as an actor there there is a performance quality as well that I could see
32:32that was coming out but otherwise it was just like you know Divya Chai Ji Payal everybody is just there
32:39we are just happy Rudhu was there so it was just that like mainstream filmmaking like where whichever
32:45industry I mean we might we might talk about I mean they tend to have this effect where they can
32:50like homogenize their actors you know everyone starts to like perform like the other person or other
32:57references also like a different person that they've seen in another film maybe a past film or something like
33:02that I mean first of all do you feel like mainstream filmmaking it tends to like quash
33:06individuality and what is your is it only in mainstream film do you don't feel it in independent
33:12films I feel it more in independent films than in mainstream films independent films I feel it way more
33:17they come with a certain way of acting most people want to do everything underplay a lot most directors
33:24from independent films like don't express so much very underplay go slow and there is a certain meter they look for I
33:32most independent films of India particularly I'm not talking about other independent films
33:36other countries I feel it equally there in both mainstream and in independent films I very rarely there are
33:44original authors that exist in both mainstream and in independent this thing that you're saying is lingers in both
33:54okay okay okay okay it's not oneness over to the other it's the same like oh you you are like smitha patel and then act like smitha patel yeah
34:04or you are like this this other actor or no like I'm not saying independent films should be like that or all in films from India is like that but
34:12most of it will have a certain rhythm a certain way of looking certain way of acting style
34:17directors actors all bring that and sometimes directors want it also that's why probably actors
34:22are bringing it I don't know but the same mainstream mainstream also may have largely something that
34:28people are but there will be always some mainstream directors who doesn't do it they will go originally
34:33they will just discover what that story is about in there and then with along with their actors and other artists in
34:39the film similarly there will be some independent films where they discover that so that is just I
34:43don't think it has nothing to do just being mainstream or only independent it's just sometimes people fall
34:49into including me I will fall into also a certain style of acting and everybody is always that push and
34:56new form new things has to come and or push you either push yourself as a rigorous artist if you don't push
35:04maybe you're lucky enough to work with an amazing director who will push you so that you break
35:08that otherwise you all everybody tend to fall into a certain kind of thing how do you hold on to
35:14your individuality in like like you know like in in a business where like you're mentioning whether
35:20it's mainly more independent everyone is trying to you know clone the most successful person or at least
35:25like that's the feeling that I've got from like observing the industry uh how do you you know like be
35:32like no I'm okay uh the way I am I don't have to be something else I think some of us are that
35:38that I mean I I am not alone there or anything I I feel there are there has always been artists like
35:45that and they continue to be I think now more are more have such individuality than any other time
35:52maybe that's all choice and sometimes you know you can also fall into a see as long it's all your
35:58choice it's like a place like you know like you're you're like oh let me just fall into the stream and
36:04swim along with them or now I don't want to swim along let me go in through and then I'll walk
36:08for some time or as long as you are deciding all this and you want to do it that's great I mean if
36:14you can if you have such choices but sometimes you don't have such choices and I probably don't want to
36:20be in a place like that but I think sometimes people can enjoy it also maybe some people enjoy
36:24it so that's why they are there sometimes it can be not because they enjoy it they have to because
36:29that's the only way to survive so I mean ideal world would be to embrace the diversity we can
36:36embrace the diversity for as a viewer also as even if I were to never be an actor I just want to watch
36:42films or watch anything and that we can coexist with all kinds of kinds of diverse expressions
36:48of art and cinema and literature everything that would be the best but cinema particularly is like
36:53made with a lot of money so there is a lot of risk so people tend to make the same thing because
37:00you want to somehow reduce the risk so I understand that I mean I hope for a future where we don't have
37:07to be like that like interesting opportunities I mean they can be rare especially like you're mentioning
37:13like especially like for female actors and if you're like looking to do like a certain kind of work
37:19I mean from the thing that I've gazed by like talking to actors it's between projects that like
37:24actors tend to lose their mind when they don't know what's coming next how do you deal with the
37:31weight between projects I mean sometimes it's hard but I try to not wait this idea of waiting I want
37:39to have a life where I have my things to do and when a work comes oh now I'll take a break from my
37:45lights and I go to them that's how I always approach I'm not like oh my life is acting and acting in
37:51films now that I don't have I'll sit and wait here no so like I have my own things going on always my
37:57own one like you know whatever it is like sometimes practicing sitar or maybe go to gym or sometimes
38:03practicing my own some acting things that I've learned maybe I just want to practice it every day
38:08look at things or read and then or spend time with quality time with people I love and many many
38:14things that you can I mean you can't always afford these things these are also privileged
38:19sometimes you get that because you make some money and then this money you can spend to the time that
38:24you can nurture yourself you can resume you can go learn something and then again to go do a workshop
38:30or learn some acting learn poetry or learn something that all can add to your future work as well so
38:36something like that the only problem with actors sometimes like it is long and we don't have that money
38:41to sustain ourselves for that period of time that is where the problem comes so like in some developed
38:47european countries they support artists when they don't have work if we also had such things
38:53I think actors won't feel that waiting so much because it's also good to do one work in two years
38:57also if you really do it well and it can really that's also enough sometimes you can always enrich yourself
39:03by learning writing or many things you can do but the thing is it's not about that because you are like oh
39:09I how will I pay my rent next month how will I do this and that and like you have to have a certain
39:13amount of money to sustain yourself when you don't have work that you so you should know that it is
39:19there so that you can you can be calm and quiet and then quietly practice your thing that only comes
39:25with only to only some actors with some levels so that they have enough money to sustain sometimes you
39:31don't have that that is a problem but if I'm talking about only actors who have that enough
39:39money if I mean I right now I'm in a good place but I was not always in good places as well but in a
39:45good place I don't feel like oh I'm waiting there no I I'm okay I'm okay I'm very I like a day I like
39:52a day with myself and I'm very happy like that and I have a lot of I always feel one life is not even
39:58enough if I have more time I would probably start learning piano as well because I love it
40:03only thing is resources if resources is there I would I think just go start learning things
40:09whenever I have time is that's what I want to do in fact and I want to take a break from that only
40:14to go at it's the other way around for me yeah so like I'm actually like talking about like that period
40:21where you don't have the resources okay and I'm basically like like you want to do like a certain
40:27kind of work and you need the work god knows and uh but I mean you know and like you probably
40:35have this value system within you that won't permit you to like take that kind of work I mean tell me
40:40a little bit about that struggle of like you know like not having the resources uh having work
40:46getting offered to you but something that just doesn't align with how you see the work when I have
40:52had less money I'm living my life that way I have always it was never a thing is I am very privileged
41:00that way like I don't have to give money to my family so a lot of people may have to take care of
41:04their family then that's a big I don't think people who have such responsibility can even say opt acting or
41:11things freelance jobs basically I have to always take care of me only that I've been that I have managed
41:19I have always managed because I'm like okay this is the only money I have okay I live like that
41:25it's been like that but I've had something always so if nothing I had friends who had nothing so then
41:31they will take a loan from other friends all that I have seen I thankfully did not have to
41:38go reach there still now so I mean how to do that I don't think there's any way like I have
41:44I have not had like an extreme level where oh I don't know I all I am also someone who is very
41:51middle class that way I always save I don't spend anything I only spend it for food and then I'm like
41:57that kind of person so I will always have some saving too you know I will not be like suddenly
42:02oh I don't reach there that's good but I always sort of if I don't get any work and it reaches I'll do any job
42:10that was my spirit I'll do probably cleaning I like cleaning houses maybe I can go and do cleaning
42:15job I think like that you seem to have this knack for like physical comedy it's a hard skill to
42:22master I would imagine right I mean uh physical comedy I mean it's not like that's something I
42:27actually absolutely love and I was absolutely no and I was so happy to see Radhika's uh sister midnight
42:34because it's full of physical comedy and Radhika is someone I again know from a long time so I was
42:39just so happy to see that like and I think this Hindi film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro also something I love
42:46I would love to see things like that you know sometimes nonsensical this and that you know yeah
42:51I mean it's not a knack of course I was always attracted to it and that's why I went to study in a
42:56school not about slapstick comedy the school is not about that but school is more about physical acting and
43:02you know how do you take you from your body uh reactions things like that yeah that's something
43:07I actually anyway was always drawn to so I mean I would imagine okay computer was like slightly like
43:12whimsical and slapstick like you mentioned I mean was your killer suit character I mean the martial art
43:17angle was it already like written yeah it was already there it was in the I auditioned for it it
43:22wasn't all in the audition it was written that if you know kalari or if you know some martial art it
43:28would help so in the audition I had to do a certain I have learned kalari little bit way
43:34before so I knew little bit so I made a a piece for that and that was also there but I was not
43:40very good at it or anything it's like okay yeah but but it's like one of the it's one of the surprises
43:46of the show right like I don't think anyone was uh expecting her to like suddenly fight back in that
43:52situation I thought that was like hilarious first of all and I thought you were so good and it was
43:57such a great subversion of the scene basically I think you accidentally fall and you die I think in
44:03that yeah yeah yeah yeah I like that moment yeah it was such a great moment I thought it was like such a
44:09bizarre and keeping it with the and also Abhishek sir wanted me to be like in a very weird position
44:15once I thought I I liked that too what were your feelings like when okay computer came out
44:21something like that I know that it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea I knew that but coming from
44:26theater though I love being part of shows like that it's and I want to be part of such things only
44:31if there was a choice I always want to be in the most experimental and hey let's just you know like
44:37like children we are just going and we're gonna do something you know uh I think there should be
44:41always some room for such things as well in art and literature and cinema there should be always
44:47something that may be flop that may be whatever it's okay but allow ourselves to you know make
44:52that risk like but if everything becomes that maybe we don't we can't afford it like being a developing
44:58country otherwise I would love that space to always exist um in every genre in everything where you
45:06just you know go so I knew that it may be not everyone's and it can be also some it is also
45:11possible if it was released in some other time maybe everybody gets it also it all can happen
45:16sometimes you don't know that it is my most favorite character I have played on screen
45:21till now date in my life because I had so much fun doing that as well yeah so that way I was very happy
45:30but um the thing is a lot of things I do I did I don't understand also because my lack of Hindi I mean
45:37maybe we could have there could have been things in the edit or things could have done
45:41rare but it doesn't matter they are both they directed it for the first time it's their thing
45:47and I think there should be always room for such like Lee Jo Jo's Felicieri you know this director
45:52of course of course yeah so Lee Jo is this fun film which was flop which is my favorite film of
45:56his which is double barrel it was a flop and nobody talks about it but I love that film it seems like
46:01insane and is it is it a comedy yeah it is dark and it's it was but a flop but I love that film
46:08I think that if I were to not act in off your computer and I was in Kerala and I this if I were
46:14to watch this I am that one of the niche audience of a computer will be like what was that oh my god
46:21some people went crazy there yeah I mean within that world also it can be better of course everything
46:27can be always better but I I would just be happy with that attempt you know that was my thing so I
46:33was okay I mean I have no problem that didn't work for most people now that you've like tasted
46:40you know like the best things that probably in your profession that you've had the year that you've kind
46:46of had I mean what's your mind space like have like the way you choose work has that changed at all
46:53no no I think nothing changed in my life really I just had a good time the more you do these things
46:58I you can see a certain respect is going higher or all that kind of things you can you you do
47:05recognize but I think that drastic change I felt genuinely was that state award in Kerala that I
47:11I genuinely felt there was sudden difference when people call for me for work what I asked the basic
47:18yeah this basic is not given in film industry most of the time so that basic were given to me after
47:25that state award that was quite serendipitous it was a good time it was a happy time it was really nice
47:32to work with Payal, Hivya, Chaiji, Asi Sikha or Hrudu everybody it was just nice like Ronavi like
47:40like the DOP and the crew everybody it was just nice time so it was really nice to celebrate it similarly
47:46Shuchi's film girls will be also it was a really nice crew and Preeti is one of the most amazing
47:51co-actor I've ever ever had and and Kesha and everybody just like it was good memory whatever we
47:57did so to cherish that is also nice it's something like that that's what I think like I said like
48:02there is a certain power changing I can feel how people talk to me or if some story comes to me either
48:09I don't ask anything because they seem very close-minded then I'm but not all of them most
48:15people are open-minded directors and they'll be like what do you think so I'll say things but I've
48:20seen after a certain time if you say that people really pay attention to what you say and everything
48:25so that kind of change and I'm like that I can observe or in terms of if you want to ask something
48:31like that's what I'm saying it should be for everyone it's not something that should be given to
48:36someone only because they had a certain journey or anything you know like success does it like
48:42make you a little more fearful about your choices what if the next film or the next show it doesn't
48:48live up to you I always do a lot of bad things also sometimes things come together also something
48:54good and horrible and I'm like oh my god but but you always know that it's okay I mean all this
48:59would have been bad also who knows like I have no such thing so no I still there is no nothing I
49:06don't think so much about these things my only thing is if I like the story best but sometimes
49:12you don't like the story sometimes I'm like oh I like this director like oh I think I'm learning
49:17something so it's different things for me and sometimes everything can go wrong in a shoot and
49:22I'm like oh this when it comes out it will be bad everybody knows that also and it will be bad also
49:27so those are always been there it will continue to be also I know I think I read like one of your
49:31interviews where you said you know like now my next goal is to be like financially secure yeah
49:39do you feel that like as an actor like are you like in a space where uh yeah I'm not in a bad place
49:47definitely that I feel but I also realize for freelance actors or freelance any artist we I don't
49:54think we ever will feel secure in that because we we don't know what is happening next year we
49:59don't there is no so that way we will never feel I think uh can you tell us a little bit about like
50:05what you're working on next I mean is there something that you can share I shot for Maharani
50:10season four just now and then one Hindi film I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about it right
50:15now so there is one thing there is a Tamil film it's a very small but it's very small film
50:20I don't know what it will be when but I'm just gonna do it I think then only end of the year
50:26there is a Malayalam film so this one this Tamil and there is one more Tamil film in September
50:31with not fix the date these are things and uh in August I'm going to Locarno for the festival
50:38thank you so much Kani like I really appreciate you uh taking the time
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