- Geetu Mohandas began her career as a child artist in Malayalam cinema in 1986
- She won Kerala State Film Awards as both child artist and adult actress
- Geetu transitioned to directing with her production house Unplugged in 2009
Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups, spearheaded by Yash with his leading ladies Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, and Rukmini Vasanth, is all set to hit the screens tomorrow. The excitement is off the roof with the advance collections looking promising.
The woman behind it all is Geetu Mohandas, whose journey from starting as a child artist to mounting a massive film on a Rs 500 crore budget with a star as magnanimous as Yash, alongside a slew of bankable actresses in meaty roles, is commendable.
Geetu Mohandas - The Actor
Geetu Mohandas was just five years old when she faced the arc lights for the first time as a child artist in the Malayalam film Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare (1986). She starred alongside Mohanlal and Asha Jayaram. She even bagged the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist. Not just that, she was also seen as a child artist in the Tamil film En Bommukutty Ammavukku (1988), which was a remake of the Malayalam hit Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku.
As time flew, Geetu Mohandas made her debut as an adult in the 2000 Malayalam film Life is Beautiful, helmed by Fazil, alongside Mohanlal.
And then, there was no stopping the talent brewing in her as she went on to work in critically acclaimed projects across South Cinema, carving a niche for herself. One of her most standout performances was in Shyamaprasad's Akale (2004), for which she won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Malayalam. As for commercial cinema in her filmography, the list would be incomplete without mentions of Thenkasi Pattanam and Kalyanaraman.
As she proved her mettle as an actress to watch out for, she decided to take a detour. From ruling on camera, she veered her attention to calling the shots behind the camera. That's when she transitioned from being an actor to a director. Thus began a new journey.
Geetu Mohandas - The Director
Veering her attention away from being a full-time actor, Geetu Mohandas plunged into the world of directing as she launched her production house Unplugged in 2009.
Her first directorial short film under her banner was Kelkkunnundo (Are You Listening?), and it made a lot of noise. The film traversed through international recognition, winning three international awards for Best Short Fiction after premiering at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Not just that, the film also won the National Film Award in India in the short fiction category, and received academic recognition when it was included as a chapter in the 12th-standard Kerala state school syllabus in 2014.
The film was about a young married couple whose lives are uprooted when the wife's younger sister arrives at their house, leading to an unconventional relationship with her husband.
Then came Geetu Mohandas's first feature film Liar's Dice in 2013, reportedly made on a meagre budget of Rs 50 lakhs. The film was written and directed by Geetu Mohandas.
The accolades for Liar's Dice were even bigger than her short film. It won the National Film Award for Best Actress (Geetanjali Thapa) and Best Cinematography (Rajeev Ravi), and was also India's official entry to the Oscars in 2014 (the 87th Academy Awards held in 2015). The film had also premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
Her second feature film Moothon (2019) again went on its international journey, premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival and winning the Global Filmmaking Award at the Sundance Film Lab in 2016. Moothon had its world premiere at TIFF in 2019 and was the opening film at MAMI 2019.
Clearly, Geetu Mohandas the director was meant to make films that reach far and wide. With a trajectory like this, it comes as no surprise that her next directorial Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups, with an ensemble cast, is the talk of the town. While the film has gone through its own trail of ups and downs - with the release date being pushed several times and controversies over its bold scenes - the Toxic team has only heaped praises on Geetu Mohandas's vision, adding to the buzz around the film.
Geetu Mohandas - The Toxic Era
Geetu Mohandas deep-dives into the high-stakes commercial arena with the pan-Indian action drama Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups.
She has had a stellar career, from being a child artist to becoming a leading actress in Malayalam cinema, and then turning director.
For someone known for her quiet and independent films, Toxic is her first step towards reaching the mainstream audience with a high-profile cast.
Toxic has so far been postponed thrice. The release was originally scheduled for 10 April 2025, with rumours suggesting it was pushed to 19 March due to reshoots and production issues. But that was put to rest when the production team told NDTV that there were zero reshoots. It was then pushed from March 19 to June 4, as internet buzz suggested it was to avoid the storm unleashed by Dhurandhar 2 on the same date. However, KVN Productions, the banner backing the film, stated it was due to Middle East tensions. The Middle East shutdown meant the film would not be able to release there, resulting in a big revenue loss for the makers.
And now finally, the film hits theatres tomorrow.
As per reports, Toxic is said to be made on a humongous budget of Rs 500 crore by KVN Productions. The film, which will be released in six languages, has music and background score by Ravi Basrur.
Clearly, this makes Toxic, Geetu Mohandas's biggest gamble at the box office yet.
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