Kani was born in Cheruvakkal, a small village in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, to social activist and rationalist parents Jayasree A. K. and Maitreya Maitreyan.

In 2009, after returning from L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, Kusruti appeared in the anthology film Kerala Cafe, in the segment "Island Express" directed by Shankar Ramakrishnan.

In 2010, she played a Naxalite in the Mohanlal starrer Shikkar, but her nuanced rendition of a sex worker in the 2010 film Cocktail got her noticed by mainstream audiences.

In December 2010, Kani collaborated on creating 'Las Indias', a "mega performance event" directed by the thespian and theatre pedagogist Elias Cohen.

The bus that was originally created for Las Indias, was used once again for an interactive theatre roadshow 'Tsunami Express: Highway of Hopes', which Kusruti collaborated on making.

[10][11] Kusruti researched, co-developed and acted in the Indo-Polish production 'Burning Flowers - 7 Dreams of a Woman', directed by Pawel Szkotak and produced by Teatr Biuro Podróży.

[6] Kusruti's mother Dr. Jayasree AK, a community medicine specialist and social activist, lectures at Pariyaram Medical College, and is a regular guest on talk shows.