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]
Geetu Mohandas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Gayatri Das 8 June 1981 |
| Other names | Geetu |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards |
|
Career
editAs an actress
editGeetu'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
editGeetu 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
editShe 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
editAs director
editInternational 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
edit- 2020- 3 awards at NYIFF for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Child Actor[11][12]
- 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[13]
- 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[14]
Festivals for Moothon
edit- 2020- selected to the 18th ANNUAL IFFLA at Los Angeles, California[15]
- 2020- screened at London Indian Film Festival and Birmingham Indian Film Festival.
- 2020- premiered at 43rd GOTEBORG FILM FESTIVAL 2020 In Sweden[16]
- 2020-24th edition of International Film Festival of Kerala - IFFK
Awards for Liar's Dice
edit- 2013- National Film Award for Best Actress Geetanjali Thapa
- 2013- National Film Award for Best Cinematography Rajeev Ravi
- 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
edit- 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
editAs an actress
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Onnu Muthal Poojaym Vare | Deepa Mol | Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist | |
| 1986 | Sayam Sandhya | Vinu Mol | ||
| 1986 | Veendum | Anu | ||
| 1986 | Rareeram | Geethu | ||
| 1988 | En Bommukutty Ammavukku | Tinnu | Tamil film | |
| 2000 | Life Is Beautiful | Bala | Debut as lead actress | |
| 2000 | Thenkasipattanam | Sangeetha | ||
| 2001 | Kannaki | Kumudam | ||
| 2002 | Kakke Kakke Koodevide | Sudharma | ||
| 2002 | Pakalppooram | Seemandini / Ghost | ||
| 2002 | Krishna Gopalakrishna | Gayathri | ||
| 2002 | Sesham | Meera | ||
| 2002 | Valkannadi | Devu | ||
| 2003 | Sahodharan Sahadevan | Arathi | ||
| 2003 | Shingari Bolona | Maya | ||
| 2003 | Nala Damayanthi | Damayanthi | Tamil film | |
| 2003 | Choonda | Mohini Varma/Archana | ||
| 2003 | Mullavalliyum Thenmavum | Eva Cherian | ||
| 2004 | Oridam | No name in the movie | ||
| 2004 | Thudakkam | Karthika | ||
| 2004 | Akale | Rose | Won—Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress Won—Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam |
|
| 2005 | Ullam | Radha | ||
| 2005 | Pauran | Annie | ||
| 2005 | Rappakal | Malavika Varma | ||
| 2006 | Kisan | Ammu/Ambili Varma | ||
| 2006 | Poi | Ramya | Tamil film | |
| 2006 | Arunam | Seetha | ||
| 2006 | Mouryan | Unknown | ||
| 2007 | Bharathan Effect | Geetha | ||
| 2007 | Thakarachenda | Latha | ||
| 2007 | Naalu Pennungal |
|
||
| 2008 | Akasha Gopuram | Catherine | Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Malayalam | |
| 2009 | Seetha Kalyanam | Abhirami | ||
| 2009 | Nammal Thammil | Anu |
As director
edit| † | 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 |
[17] |
| 2019 | Moothon |
|
Global filmmaking award for story in Sundance film festival 2016 | [17] |
| 2025 | Toxic † | Kannada | TBA | [18] |
References
edit- ^ "Nawazuddin's Liar's Dice in Sundance Film Festival". Starblockbuster. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ Gitanjali Roy (23 September 2014). "India will send Hindi-language road film Liar's Dice to the Oscars next year, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced today". Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "I, Me, Myself – Geethu Mohandas". The Hindu. 4 July 2003. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ Shobha Warrier (11 February 2003). "Geetu Mohandas is Damayanthi". Rediff.com. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ "In the big league". The Hindu. 12 June 2003. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ Liar's Dice wins Special Jury award at Sofia International Film Festival Archived 21 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 6 April 2014.
- ^ "'This Is The Bronze Age Of Malayalam Cinema. I Won't Call It The Golden Age. We Are Not There Yet': Geetu Mohandas". Silverscreen.in. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ http://cinidiary.com/people.php?pigsection=Actor&picata=2&no_of_displayed_rows=8&no_of_rows_page=10&sletter= Archived 5 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 5 May 2015.
- ^ "ഗീതു മോഹന്ദാസ് വിവാഹിതയായി" Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ "Moothon Wins Awards for Best Film, Best Actor and Best Child Artist in New York Indian Film Festival - Zee5 News". 5 August 2020.
- ^ "Moothon wins three awards at Cincinnati Indian Film Festival 2020". The Times of India.
- ^ "'Moothon' Wins Two Awards at Indo-German Film Week in Berlin". 3 October 2020.
- ^ Mathews, Anna. "Moothon wins at FFAST, Paris". The Times of India.
- ^ "18th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles". 21 February 2020.
- ^ "Geetu Mohandas-directed 'Moothon' wins Best Film at film festival in Paris". 4 February 2020.
- ^ a b Shriijth, Sajin (21 November 2019). "Geetu Mohandas: No one other than Nivin could have played Akbar so beautifully". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
- ^ "Yash-starrer 'Toxic' to go on floors on this date". The Hindu. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
External links
edit