Kani Kusruti’s portrayal of a rape survivor in the film ‘Assi’ is grounded in sincerity, deftly navigating the complexities of trauma without descending into darkness. She sheds light on the film’s treatment of the grueling legal obstacles that survivors must confront—an experience all too familiar for many women across India, given the disturbing rates of such violence.

Kani Kusruti says she did not try to fully live the trauma of a rape survivor while preparing for her role in the upcoming film ‘Assi’. In an interview, the actress revealed that no actor can truly access that experience, but she still aimed for an honest portrayal. “I don’t think one can tap into the trauma (of a survivor) exactly,” she said.Kani Kusruti on playing a rape survivor in ‘Assi’In the interview with PTI, Kusruti explained that she tried to get as close to Parima’s reality as possible without forcing herself to sink into the character’s pain. “As an actor, we tried to go closest to it, and there can be moments you are probably in it because you are almost believing this has happened to you. But I’m not an actor who would fully go in like that, (because) then it will kind of affect you. I don’t tend to do that,” she said.More about ‘Assi’ Kusruti also spoke about how the film reflects the legal grind survivors face, and how court proceedings can reopen old wounds. She said the subject is not distant for many women in India because stories of assault sit close to everyday life. “As a woman growing up in this country from childhood to now, do I have a sense of such assaults or traumas? Yes, possibly I do, as my close people have gone through it. So, every now and then, this is one of the things that you are closely associated with even when you don’t want it to be that way,” she added.Kusruti also spoke about the strain of pursuing justice. “To get justice, you’ve to go through it (pain), so there is an absurdity and irony within the system, but that’s how you get justice, you cannot forget it. In the film, there’s also a line, ‘They won’t let you forget this’,” she said.Directed by Anubhav Sinha, ‘Assi’ follows Parima, a married woman in Delhi who is abducted and sexually assaulted, and then pushed into a long fight for justice. Taapsee Pannu plays her lawyer.