Indian actor Kani Kusruti, who recently gained attention for her performances in Cannes winner “All We Imagine as Light” and Sundance winner “Girls Will Be Girls,” is stepping into production with the Malayalam-language drama “Guptam” (aka “The Last of Them Plagues”).
The film marks the directorial debut of Kunjila Mascillamani and is being co-produced by Mankind Cinemas, the banner behind “The Great Indian Kitchen,” with filmmaker Jeo Baby. The project was at the recently concluded Film Bazaar, part of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
The film centers on Sethulekshmi, a single mother whose younger daughter disappears during a visit to her husband’s grave. When police investigations prove futile, she relocates to the area with her elder daughter Neela, facing hostility from a conservative community while Neela finds love with a deaf boy at a local school.
Kusruti, who has been following Mascillamani’s shorts for over a decade, was drawn to the project’s nuanced portrayal of gender dynamics. “I’ve grown up watching many women like Sethulekshmi of ‘Guptam.’ They brought the slightest changes, the most gentle of revolutions without ever thinking of or even intending it. The subtlety with which ‘Guptam’ handles this aspect of our gender is remarkable,” says Kusruti.
“Of all the projects I am working on now, ‘Guptam’s’ theme feels the most urgent to me,” Mascillamani tells Variety. “The world of ‘Guptam’ is a microcosm of every single scenario in the world where people deem other people as outsiders in myriad ways and use this to drive them out of spaces meant for all.”
Baby, who previously collaborated with Mascillamani on an anthology film, joined the project after seeing her segment “Asanghadithar.” “Her film completely blew my mind with its unique content and style,” says Baby. “I immediately wanted to be a part of her filmmaking journey and expressed my interest in producing her debut feature.”
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