Geetu Mohandas
Indian actress and filmmaker (born 1981)
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Gayatri Das (born 8 June 1981), better known by her stage name Geetu Mohandas, is an Indian actress and director known for her works in Malayalam cinema. In 2013, she directed the socio political film Liar's Dice which has received two National Film Awards, was premiered at Sundance Film Festival,[1] and was India's official entry at the 87th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.[2]
- Actress
- film director
Geetu Mohandas | |
|---|---|
Geethu in 2010 | |
| Born | Gayatri Das 8 June 1981 |
| Other name | Geetu |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1986–Present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards |
|
Career
Acting
Gayatri Das adopted her nickname "Geetu" as her screen name as when she appeared in her fourth film, Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare (1986), starring Mohanlal. At the age of five, she portrayed a fatherless child who forms a bond with an anonymous telephone caller.[3][4]
As a child actor, she also played the title role in the Tamil film En Bommukutty Ammavukku, a remake of Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku, in which Shalini had portrayed the lead character.[5]
Geetu made her debut as an adult actor in Life Is Beautiful, again starring Mohanlal. She subsequently appeared in films including Thenkasi Pattanam, Valkannadi, and Nammal Thammil. Her performance in Akale, directed by Shyamaprasad and produced by Tom George Kolath, earned her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam in 2004.
Directing
Geetu Mohandas formed her film production house, Unplugged, in 2009 which produced her directorial debut short fiction film titled Kelkkunnundo (transl. Are You Listening). The film premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and subsequently won 3 International awards for Best Short fiction as well as the National Film Award in India. The film has been included as a chapter in the 12th standard Kerala state syllabus since 2014.
Her first feature film, Liar's Dice, received the Hubert Bals fund for script and project development and the film was selected in Competition for the world dramatic competition at Sundance Film Festival in 2014. Liar's Dice went on to win six major international awards across the world and two National awards in India. It was also India's official entry for the Best Foreign Film category for the 87th Academy Awards.[6]
Her second feature film, Moothon was mentored by the Sundance film lab and Geetu also won the Global film maker award at Sundance Film Festival in 2016. Moothon had its World premiere atToronto International Film Festival in 2019 and was the opening film at MAMI 2019.[7][8]
Her third film, Toxic, starring Yash, Nayanthara, Kiara Advani and Huma Qureshi is set to release on August 26, 2026.[9]
Personal life
She was born as Gayatri Das to Mohandas and Latha on 8 June 1981 at Kochi. Studied in India, Malaysia and Canada. She has a brother living in US.[10] On 14 November 2009, she married cinematographer Rajeev Ravi.[11] The wedding took place at night in Kochi, Kerala, India. The couple have a daughter.[citation needed]
Awards
As director
International Film Festival of India
- 2009 – IFFI Golden Lamp Tree Award for Best Film and Director – Kelkkunnundo Film Chamber of Commerce
International Awards
- 2017 - Global filmmaking award for story in Sundance Film Festival 2016 - Moothon
Mumbai International Film Festival
- 2010 – Jury Award – Kelkkunnundo
Awards for Moothon
- 2020- 3 awards at NYIFF for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Child Actor[12][13]
- 2020- 3 awards at NYIFF for Best Supporting Actor for Shashank Arora, Best Child Actor for Sanjana Dipu,Best Screenplay for Geetu Mohandas
- 2020- 2 awards at INDO - GERMAN FILM WEEK 2020 for Audience Choice Award, Best Supporting Actor for Roshan Mathew[14]
- 2020- 2 awards at Iat NEWYORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL for 4 nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Child Actor 2020
- 2020- won the Best Film and Jury Prize at the prestigious Festival du Film d'Asie du Sud - FFAST in Paris[15]
Festivals for Moothon
Awards for Liar's Dice
- 2014- Sofia International Film Festival -Special Mention award & FIPRESCI AWARD for best film
- 2014- New York Indian Film Festival - Best Actress award
- 2014 - Special Jury award at the 18th Sofia International Film Festival - Liar's Dice
- 2014- Pesaro International Film Festival- Lino Micciche Award for the Best Film
- 2014- Granada Cines del Sur Film Festival- Bronce Alhambra award
As actress
- 2004- Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress – Akale, Oridam
- 1986- Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist – Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare
- 2004-Special Jury Mention – Akale
- 2001- Best Actress – Shesham
- 2004- Special Jury Award – Akale
- Mathrubhumi, Medimix film
- 2004-Best character Actress – Akale
- Ramu Karyat award
- 2020- Promising director Award -Moothon
Filmography
As an actress
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Onnu Muthal Poojaym Vare | Deepa | ||
| Sayam Sandhya | Vinu | |||
| Veendum | Anu | |||
| Rareeram | Geethu | |||
| 1988 | En Bommukutty Ammavukku | Tinnu | Tamil film | |
| 2000 | Life Is Beautiful | Bala | Debut as lead actress | |
| Thenkasipattanam | Sangeetha | |||
| 2001 | Kannaki | Kumudam | ||
| 2002 | Kakke Kakke Koodevide | Sudharma | ||
| Pakalppooram | Seemandini | |||
| Krishna Gopalakrishna | Gayathri | |||
| Sesham | Meera | |||
| Valkannadi | Devu | |||
| 2003 | Sahodharan Sahadevan | Arathi | ||
| Shingari Bolona | Maya | |||
| Nala Damayanthi | Damayanthi | Tamil film | ||
| Choonda | Mohini Varma/Archana | |||
| Mullavalliyum Thenmavum | Eva Cherian | |||
| 2004 | Oridam | A Sex worker with no name | ||
| Thudakkam | Karthika | |||
| Akale | Rose | |||
| 2005 | Ullam | Radha | ||
| Pauran | Annie | |||
| Rappakal | Malavika Varma | |||
| 2006 | Kisan | Ammu / Ambili Varma | ||
| Poi | Ramya | Tamil film | ||
| Arunam | Seetha | |||
| Mouryan | Anjali | |||
| 2007 | Bharathan Effect | Geetha | ||
| Thakarachenda | Latha | |||
| Naalu Pennungal |
| Segment: Kanyaka | ||
| 2008 | Akasha Gopuram | Catherine | ||
| 2009 | Nammal Thammil | Anu | ||
| Seetha Kalyanam | Abhirami |
As director
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Language | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Kelkkunnundo | Malayalam | Short film | |
| 2014 | Liar's Dice | Hindi | Special Jury award at the 18th Sofia International Film Festival Received two National Film Awards |
[18] |
| 2019 | Moothon |
|
Global Filmmaking award for story in Sundance film festival 2016 | [18] |
| 2026 | Toxic † | [19] | ||
