Archive · 27 Aug 2026
Geetu Mohandas: From Child Actor to Director of Toxic
Geetu Mohandas started acting in films when she was about five years old.
Her first film was Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare in 1986.
She later acted in Malayalam and Tamil movies.
Her performance in Akale won important acting awards.
In 2008, she made a short film called Kelkkunnundo.
This helped her move from acting to directing.
She later directed Liar’s Dice and Moothon.
Her newest film, Toxic, stars Yash and uses a darker style for its gangster story.
The articles give different versions of her birth name, calling her Gayatri Das or Gayathri Mohandas.
Geetu Mohandas entered Malayalam cinema as a child artist in Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare in 1986.
She earned major recognition for Akale, including a Kerala State Film Award and a Filmfare Best Actress award.
Her 2008 short film Kelkkunnundo marked her transition into filmmaking and received a National Film Award.
Her directorial debut, Liar’s Dice, premiered at Sundance, won two National Film Awards and became India’s official Oscar submission.
Mohandas now directs Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups, starring Yash alongside several major actors.
- Who
- Geetu Mohandas, an actor-turned-filmmaker, directed Toxic, starring Yash, Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria and Rukmini Vasanth.
- What
- The articles trace Mohandas’s journey from child actor to filmmaker and director of Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups.
- When
- She began acting in 1986; she made Kelkkunnundo in 2008, Liar’s Dice in 2013 and Moothon in 2019. Toxic was reported to have reached theatres on August 26, 2026.
- Where
- Mohandas was born in Kochi, and her work includes Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi-language cinema.
- Why
- Her filmmaking transition began with the short film Kelkkunnundo, which received international recognition and a National Film Award.
- Reported birth details
- Born in Kochi in 1981; the articles identify her birth name differently as Gayatri Das and Gayathri Mohandas.
- Acting debut
- Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare (1986), as a child artist.
- Acting recognition
- Her performance in Akale earned a Kerala State Film Award and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Malayalam.
- Filmmaking transition
- Kelkkunnundo (Are You Listening?) (2008), a short film that received international recognition and a National Film Award.
- Directorial debut
- Liar’s Dice (2013), starring Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
- Later film
- Moothon (2019), a Malayalam-Hindi action drama.
- Latest directorial film
- Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups, reported as released on August 26, 2026.
