Actress Kani Kusruti, who starred in the film All We Imagine As Light, that won the second highest award at the Cannes Film Festival recently, stated that she was offered Sudipto Sen's controversial film The Kerala Story but she had rejected it, as it did not align with her politics.
In an interview with Manorama Online, she said that she prefers to not be part of films that are not in sync with her politics, but sometimes, she is forced to take them up when she does not get other film offers.
Kusruti then said that while she had the liberty to reject The Kerala Story because it did not align with her ideology, she had to work in the film Biriyaani, which was on similar lines, but she had to do it because she had no work then.
"I had told Sajin (director of Biriyaani) that neither my politics nor aesthetics were aligned with the script. Sajin comes from a backward Muslim community and speaks his politics, which is correct in its own right. But that is not my politics," she said.
"If I do not get employment, I will again have to choose films that do not align with my politics," she added.
The Kerala Story, starring Adah Sharma in the lead, had sparked a massive uproar in the country as a section believed that it showed Muslims in a negative light. The Malayalam film Biriyaani made headlines back in 2019 for the same reasons, as people believed it portrayed the Muslim community in an objectionable way.
Meanwhile, Kusruti was all over the news of late after she starred in filmmaker Payal Kapadia's feature film, All We Imagine As Light, that was honoured with the Grand Prix Award at Cannes. The actress had grabbed eyeballs after she walked the Cannes red carpet carrying a watermelon clutch to express solidarity with the people of Palestine.
All We Imagine As Light became the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix award. The team of the film also received an 8-minute long ovation after it was screened at Cannes.
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