Geetu Mohandas
Indian actress and filmmaker (born 1981)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gayatri Das, 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 |
| 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 at Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 and was the opening film at MAMI 2019.[7][8]
Her third film, Toxic, starring Yash, Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Rukmini Vasanth, Tara Sutaria and Huma Qureshi was released 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 actor
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Kerala State Film Award | Best Child Artist | Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare | Won | |
| 2001 | Kerala Film Critics Association Award | Best Actress | Shesham | Won | |
| 2004 | Kerala State Film Award | Best Actress | Akale, Oridam | Won | |
| Filmfare Awards South | Best Actress, Malayalam | Akale | Won | ||
| Asianet Film Awards | Special Jury Mention | Won | |||
| Kerala Film Critics Association Award | Special Jury Award | Won | |||
| Mathrubhumi Medimix Film Awards | Best Character Actress | Won |
As filmmaker
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | International Film Festival of India | Golden Lamp Tree Award for Best Film and Director | Kelkkunnundo | Won | |
| 2010 | Mumbai International Film Festival | Jury Award | Won | ||
| 2014 | Sofia International Film Festival | FIPRESCI Award for Best Film | Liar's Dice | Won | |
| Special Jury Award | Won | ||||
| Pesaro International Film Festival | Lino Micciche Award for Best Film | Won | |||
| Granada Cines del Sur Film Festival | Bronce Alhambra | Won | |||
| 2017 | Sundance Film Festival | Global Filmmaking Award, story | Moothon | Won | |
| 2020 | New York Indian Film Festival | Best Film | Won | [12] | |
| Cincinnati Indian Film Festival | Best Screenplay | Won | [13] | ||
| Festival du Film d'Asie du Sud, Paris | Best Film | Won | [14] | ||
| Jury Prize | Won | ||||
| Indo German Film Week | Audience Choice Award | Won | [15] | ||
| Ramu Karyat Award | Promising Director | Won |
Filmography
As an actress
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare | Deepa | Child Role | [16] |
| Sayam Sandhya | Vinu | |||
| Veendum | Anu | |||
| Rareeram | Geethu | |||
| 1988 | En Bommukutty Ammavukku | Tinnu | Child Role; Tamil film | [16] |
| 2000 | Life Is Beautiful | Bala | Debut as lead actress | [16] |
| Thenkasipattanam | Sangeetha | [16] | ||
| 2001 | Kannaki | Kumudam | ||
| 2002 | Kakke Kakke Koodevide | Sudharma | ||
| Pakalppooram | Seemandini | |||
| Krishna Gopalakrishna | Gayathri | |||
| Sesham | Meera | |||
| Valkannadi | Devu | [16] | ||
| 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 | [16] | ||
| Rappakal | Malavika Varma | [16] | ||
| 2006 | Kisan | Ammu / Ambili Varma | [16] | |
| Poi | Ramya | Tamil film | [16] | |
| Arunam | Seetha | |||
| Mouryan | Anjali | |||
| 2007 | Bharathan Effect | Geetha | [16] | |
| Thakarachenda | Latha | [16] | ||
| Naalu Pennungal |
| Segment: Kanyaka | [16] | |
| 2008 | Aakasha Gopuram | Catherine | [16] | |
| 2009 | Nammal Thammil | Anu | [16] | |
| Seetha Kalyanam | Abhirami |
As director
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Language | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Kelkkunnundo | Malayalam | Short film | [17] |
| 2013 | 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: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups | Bilingual film | [19] | |
