PremiumDid you know: Toxic director Geetu Mohandas’ Liar’s Dice was India’s official entry to the Oscars
Ever since actress-turned-filmmaker Geetu Mohandas’ name came up as the potential director of Rocking Star Yash’s next, fans have been on the fence about the collaboration
Last Updated: 08.03 PM, Dec 09, 2023
When it was first reported that that Yash would be working with a woman director for his next after KGF, he was lauded, but then the name Geetu Mohandas came up and that excitement dimmed substantially. Fans of the Rocking Star were not convinced about her ability as a filmmaker to handle a star of Yash’s stature, considering that her films were more arthouse than commercial.
While her first, Liar’s Dice was a Hindi film with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Geetanjali Thapa, and was about a young mother from a remote village who, going in search of her missing husband, goes missing herself. Screened at multiple international film festivals, Liar’s Dice also won two National Awards, with Geetanjali bagging Best Actress and Geetu’s husband Rajeev Ravi Best cinematographer. The film was also India’s official entry to the 2018 Oscar Awards, but didn’t make it to any shortlist. Her second, the Malayalam film Moothon, received positive reviews, had a good festival run too, but was a box office failure.
Before she turned to filmmaking, though, Geetu was an actress, beginning her career as a child artiste. She’d won Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist for Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare in 1986 and continued as a child artiste till 1988, returning then in 2000 with Life is Beautiful. In 2004, she won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for Akale and remained active in cinema as an actor till 2009.
Toxic is said to be Geetu’s attempt at making a gangster film from a woman’s perspective. The film is rumoured to be based on Goa’s drug mafia in the 60s and 70s, with Rajeev returning as cinematographer and Hollywood stunt co-ordinator JJ Perry handling the action bits. It is rumoured that Tovino Thomas has been roped in as the antagonist, while Shruti Haasan is one of three leading ladies. The Salaar actress has also sung the title reveal track.