Kani Kusruti won the Best Actress Award for Sajin Baabu‘s Biriyaani: Flavours of Flesh at the BRICS Film Forum of the 42nd Moscow Film Festival held in Russia from October 1 to 7.
This is the first time a Malayalam film is receiving this award. The director shared the news on his Instagram handle.
The jury consisted of Sergey Mokritsky (Russian cinematographer, writer and director), Janna Tolstikova (Brazilian director and writer), Mahima Sikand (India), Zhang Jincgceng (director, writer and playwriter from China) and Mudemeli Madihva Aaron (South Africa).
The film also features Shailaja Jala, Anil Nedumangad, Shyam Reji, Surjith, Mini I G and Thonakkal Jayachandran.
The film revolves around the lives of two women Khadeeja (Kani Kusruti) and her mother Shailaja (Suhara Beevi) who rebel against society and the Islamic religion when life pushes them at the brink of an existential crisis after an untoward occurrence.
The film has a significant tryst with international recognition. The film was the inaugural movie at the 20th Asiatica Film Festival in 2019, Rome, Italy and bagged the NETPAC Award for Best Film. It won the Padmarajan Award for Best Screenplay at the Bangalore International Film Festival.
Kani Kusruti’s won her first Best Actress Award at the Imagine India International Film Festival held in Spain. Director Prashant Nair’s yet-to-release Tryst with Destiny earned her a nomination for the Best Actor Award at the TruBeca Festival in New York.
Recommended
Speaking to The Hindu, the actress said: “I dedicate this award to PK Rosy, the first heroine of Malayalam cinema and also the first Dalit actress in Indian cinema….I see a lot of amazing actors not being offered characters they could have been amazing at, just because of gaps in the current talent-representation infrastructure. I share this award with all of them and hope that together we will create a new culture of motion picture excellence that will provide equal opportunities to all actors, irrespective of their caste, class or skin colour.”
Her upcoming works include Tryst with Destiny and Ok Computer.