Geetu Mohandas Explained

Geetu Mohandas
Birth Name:Gayatri Das
Birth Date:1981 6, df=y
Birth Place:Kochi, Kerala, India
Othername:Geetu
Yearsactive:1986present
Children:1

Gayatri Das (born 8 June 1981) known professionally as Geetu Mohandas is an Indian former 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 chosen by the Government of India as India's entry for the U.S. 87th Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, but was not shortlisted or nominated.[2]

Career

As an actress

Geetu's actual name is Gayatri Das.[3] Affectionately called Geetu by her family, the name was adopted as her screen name when she starred in her fourth movie Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare in 1986 with Mohanlal in the lead role. Geetu was five years old then and captured the hearts of Malayalam filmgoers as a fatherless child who discovers a father in an anonymous telephone caller.[4] She acted in the top grosser En Bommukutty Ammavukku as the title role, which was the Tamil remake of Fazil's Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku (Malayalam) done by Baby Shalini in the title role.[5] Geetu's first movie as an adult was Life is Beautiful starring Mohanlal in the lead. She went on to act in Thenkasi Pattanam, Valkannadi, Nammal Thammil and several other Malayalam movies. The high point of her career was Akale directed by Shyamaprasad, and produced by Tom George Kolath which won her the Kerala State Award for Best Actress in 2004. Geetu also won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam, for her role as Rose, in Akale.

As director

Geetu Mohandas formed her film production house- Unplugged in 2009 which produced her directorial debut short fiction film titled Kelkkunnundo 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 (film) 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 (film) 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]

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, Dr. Arjun Das, nephrologist, living in US.[9] On 14 November 2009, she married cinematographer Rajeev Ravi.[10] The wedding took place at night in Kochi, Kerala, India. The couple have a daughter, Aradhana.

Awards

As director

International Film Festival of India

International Awards

Mumbai International Film Festival

Awards for Moothon

Festivals for Moothon

Awards for Liar's Dice

As actress

Kerala State Film Awards
Filmfare Awards South
Kerala Film Critics Association Awards
Mathrubhumi, Medimix film
Ramu Karyat award

Filmography

As an actress

List of Geetu Mohandas film acting credits
YearTitleRoleNotes
1986 Onnu Muthal Poojaym Vare Deepa Mol
1986Sayam Sandhya Vinu Mol
1986Veendum Anu
1986 Rareeram Geethu
1988En Bommukutty Ammavukku Tinnu Tamil film
2000 Life Is Beautiful BalaDebut as lead actress
2000Thenkasipattanam Sangeetha
2001KannakiKumudam
2002Kakke Kakke KoodevideSudharma
2002PakalppooramSeemandini / Ghost
2002Krishna GopalakrishnaGayathri
2002SeshamMeera
2002Valkannadi Devu
2003Sahodharan Sahadevan Arathi
2003Shingari BolonaMaya
2003Nala DamayanthiDamayanthi Tamil film
2003ChoondaMohini Varma/Archana
2003 Mullavalliyum Thenmavum Eva Cherian
2004 Oridam No name in the movie
2004 Thudakkam Karthika
2004Akale Rose
2005 Ullam Radha
2005 PauranAnnie
2005 Rappakal Malavika Varma
2006 Kisan Ammu/Ambili Varma
2006 Poi RamyaTamil film
2006ArunamSeetha
2006MouryanUnknown
2007 Bharathan Effect Geetha
2007 Thakarachenda Latha
2007 Naalu Pennungal
2008 Akasha Gopuram Catherine
2009 Seetha Kalyanam Abhirami
2009 Nammal Thammil Anu

As director

List of Geetu Mohandas film acting credits
YearFilmLanguageNotes
2009KelkkunnundoMalayalamShort Film
2014Liar's DiceHindi[17]
2019MoothonGlobal filmmaking award for story in Sundance film festival 2016
2025[18]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nawazuddin's Liar's Dice in Sundance Film Festival . Starblockbuster . 17 April 2014.
  2. Web site: India will send Hindi-language road film Liar's Dice to the Oscars next year, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced today . Gitanjali Roy . 23 September 2014 . 23 September 2014.
  3. News: The Hindu . I, Me, Myself – Geethu Mohandas . 4 July 2003 . 13 April 2009.
  4. Web site: . Geetu Mohandas is Damayanthi . Shobha Warrier . 11 February 2003 . 13 April 2009.
  5. News: The Hindu . In the big league . 12 June 2003 . 13 April 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110726071907/http://www.thehinduretailplus.com/thehindu/mp/2003/06/12/stories/2003061200270202.htm . 26 July 2011.
  6. http://dearcinema.com/news/liars-dice-wins-special-jury-award-sofia-international-film-festival/1922 Liar's Dice wins Special Jury award at Sofia International Film Festival
  7. News: Silverscreen.in . 'This Is The Bronze Age Of Malayalam Cinema. I Won't Call It The Golden Age. We Are Not There Yet': Geetu Mohandas . 18 September 2019 . 18 September 2019.
  8. Web site: Moothon, Geetu Mohandas' Malayalam action thriller, will open 21st edition of MAMI Mumbai Film Festival . 13 August 2019. .She will going to direct Yash's next movie names Toxic.
  9. http://cinidiary.com/people.php?pigsection=Actor&picata=2&no_of_displayed_rows=8&no_of_rows_page=10&sletter= Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  10. http://www.epathram.com/cinema/2009_11_01_archive.shtml "ഗീതു മോഹന്‍ദാസ്‌ വിവാഹിതയായി"
  11. Web site: Moothon Wins Awards for Best Film, Best Actor and Best Child Artist in New York Indian Film Festival - Zee5 News . 5 August 2020.
  12. News: Moothon wins three awards at Cincinnati Indian Film Festival 2020 . The Times of India.
  13. Web site: 'Moothon' Wins Two Awards at Indo-German Film Week in Berlin . 3 October 2020.
  14. News: Moothon wins at FFAST, Paris . The Times of India . Mathews . Anna.
  15. Web site: 18th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles . 21 February 2020.
  16. Web site: Geetu Mohandas-directed 'Moothon' wins Best Film at film festival in Paris . 4 February 2020.
  17. Web site: Shriijth . Sajin . 2019-11-21 . Geetu Mohandas: No one other than Nivin could have played Akbar so beautifully . 2024-06-02 . Cinema Express . en.
  18. Web site: Yash-starrer ‘Toxic’ to go on floors on this date. The Hindu. 7 August 2024.