After Mulk and Thappad, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha and actor Taapsee Pannu have reunited for a third time with Assi, a hard-hitting social drama whose trailer dropped on Wednesday. The response was swift and intense. Centered around a rape case, the film promises to be emotionally demanding—but amid its powerful ensemble, one performance has quietly emerged as the most unsettling.
That performance belongs to Kani Kusruti.
In a trailer filled with anger, grief, and confrontation, Kani’s presence stands out for a different reason. Playing the survivor of sexual assault, her performance isn’t loud or theatrical. It is restrained, internal, and deeply affecting. She doesn’t dominate the frame—she lingers in it. And for many viewers, the trailer sparked an immediate question: who is Kani Kusruti?
Born in Cheruvakkal, a small village in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Kani Kusruti is 40 years old and has been working in Indian cinema for nearly two decades. While she may be a new face for a section of the Hindi film audience, her work in Malayalam cinema has long drawn critical attention. She first came into wider focus with the 2009 anthology film Kerala Cafe and went on to appear in films such as Shikkar, Cocktail, and Ok Computer.
Kani has consistently chosen complex, demanding roles over mainstream visibility. That approach paid off in 2020 with Biriyaani, a performance that became a major turning point in her career. The film earned her widespread acclaim and several honours, including the Best Actress award at the Kerala State Film Awards.
In 2024, she appeared in All We Imagine as Light, a film that travelled extensively on the international festival circuit and won multiple awards. It was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globe Awards. That same year, she featured in Girls Will Be Girls, produced by Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal, which released on Amazon Prime Video.
In Assi, Kani shares screen space with an impressive ensemble that includes Revathy, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Naseeruddin Shah, Supriya Pathak, and Seema Pahwa. Yet even among such seasoned performers, her role feels central to the film’s emotional weight.
Scheduled for a theatrical release on February 20, 2026, Assi is already generating high expectations. For many viewers, it may also serve as their first real introduction to Kani Kusruti. If the trailer is any indication, it won’t be a performance that fades easily—it will stay, disturb, and demand attention.