Gayatri Das (born 8 June 1981), known professionally as Geetu Mohandas, is an Indian actress and director known for her works in

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, '' Elippathaya ...

and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

. In 2013, she directed the socio political film '' Liar's Dice'' which has received two

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

, was premiered at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

, and was chosen by the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

as India's entry for the U.S.

87th Academy Awards The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2014 and took place on February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

, but was not shortlisted or nominated.

As an actress

Geetu's birth name is Gayatri Das. 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 Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...

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. She acted in the top grosser '' En Bommukutty Ammavukku'' as the title role, which was the Tamil remake of Fazil's ''

Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku ''Ente Mamattukkuttiyammakku'' (; also known as ''Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku'') is a 1983 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film produced by Navodaya Appachan under Navodaya Studio. It was written and directed by Fazil and stars Bharat Go ...

'' (Malayalam) done by

Baby Shalini Shalini (born 20 November 1979), also known as Baby Shalini, is a former Indian child artist and actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam and Tamil films. During the 80s, Shalini was the most successful child artist in the Malayalam film ...

in the title role. 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) ''Liar's Dice'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language road movie written and directed by Geetu Mohandas and starring Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The film tells the story of a young mother from a remote village who, going in search of h ...

received the Hubert Bals Fund for script and project development and the film was selected in Competition for the world dramatic competition at

in 2014.

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. Her second feature film,

Moothon ''Moothon'' (), also known internationally as ''The Elder One'', is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Geetu Mohandas, and jointly produced by S. Vinod Kumar, Anurag Kashyap, Ajay G. Rai and Alan McAlex. Featurin ...

was mentored by the Sundance film lab and Geetu also won the Global filmmaker award at

in 2016. Moothon had its World premiere at Toronto International film festival in 2019 and was the opening film at MAMI 2019.

Personal life

She was born as Gayatri Das to Mohandas and Latha on 8 June 1981 at

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

. She studied in India, Malaysia and Canada. On 14 November 2009, she married cinematographer

Rajeev Ravi Rajeev Ravi is an Indian cinematographer, director, and producer from Kochi, Kerala. He's best known for his work in Hindi and Malayalam films. After graduating from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in 1997, he started his career ...

. The wedding took place in

, Kerala, India.

Awards and honours

Moothon ''Moothon'' (), also known internationally as ''The Elder One'', is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Geetu Mohandas, and jointly produced by S. Vinod Kumar, Anurag Kashyap, Ajay G. Rai and Alan McAlex. Featurin ...
participated festivals

*Toronto International film festival - world premiere *Mumbai International film festival- Opening film *International film festival of Kerala *The Valladolid International Film Festival,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

*Palm Springs International film festival *Goteborg International film festival,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

*13th Annual Honolulu Film Festival, Hawaii *Le Festival du film d’Asie du Sud (FFAST)

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

*Opening film and won Best film FFAST, Paris *Mardi Gras International Film Festival, Australia *Cinequest International film festival, San Jose *IFFLA, Los Angeles *NYIFF, New York *Nomination, Best film, Best director, Best Actor, Best child actor in NYIFF *International film festival of South Asia, IFFSA *Umbria Film Festival, Italy-Opening film Awards for

* 2013-

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role wi ...

Geetanjali Thapa Geetanjali Thapa is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Hindi films. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress (2013) for her performance in '' Liar's Dice''. Career A professional model before joining the film industry, in 2010 ...

* 2013- National Film Award for Best Cinematography -

* 2014-

Sofia International Film Festival Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF) ( Bulgarian: ''Международен София Филм Фест, София Филм Фест''), also known as Sofia Film Fest, is an annual film festival in Sofia, capital city of Bulgaria, taking pl ...

- Special Mention award & FIPRESCI AWARD for best film * 2014-

New York Indian Film Festival The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was fou ...

- 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

* 1986 – Film Chamber of Commerce Award for Best Child Artist – ''Onnu Mudal Poojyam Vare'' * 2004 – Amrita Film Fraternity Award for Best Actress – '' Akale'' * 2002 – South Indian Cinematographers Association Award for Best Supporting Actress – '' Kannaki (film)'' * 2002 – Film Critics Award for Best Actress – ''Shesham'' * 2004 – Film Critics Award for Best Actress –'' Akale'' * 2010 – Film Critics Award for Best Short Film – ''Kelkkunnundo'' ;

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Ch ...

*2004 –

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an honour presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards were managed direct ...

– '' Akale'',

Oridam ''Oridam'' is a 2005 Indian Malayalam film, directed by Pradeep Nair, starring Vishnu and Geethu Mohandas Gayatri Das (born 8 June 1981), known professionally as Geetu Mohandas, is an Indian actress and director known for her works in Ma ...

*1986 –

Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist The Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist is an award, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India for the best performance by a child actor in the Malayalam cinema. Until 1997, the awards were managed dir ...

– Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare ;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

*2004 – Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam – '' Akale'' ;

Asianet Film Awards The Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artis ...

* 2004 – Special Jury Mention – '' Akale'' ;

Kerala Film Critics Association Awards The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were instit ...

*2001 – Best Actress – Shesham *2004 – Special Jury Award – '' Akale'' ;Mathrubhumi, Medimix film *2004 – Best character Actress – '' Akale'' ;Ramu Karyat award *2020 – Most promising director – ''

Filmography

As an actress

As director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohandas, Geetu 1981 births Living people Actresses from Kannur Kerala State Film Award winners Indian women film directors Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian film actresses Filmfare Awards South winners Malayalam film directors Film directors from Kerala Hindi-language film directors 21st-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Indian women screenwriters Malayalam screenwriters Screenwriters from Kerala Artists from Kannur Women artists from Kerala Child actresses in Malayalam cinema

As an actress

As director

Personal life

Awards and honours

Moothon ''Moothon'' (), also known internationally as ''The Elder One'', is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Geetu Mohandas, and jointly produced by S. Vinod Kumar, Anurag Kashyap, Ajay G. Rai and Alan McAlex. Featurin ... participated festivals

As actress

Filmography

As an actress

As director

References

External links

Moothon ''Moothon'' (), also known internationally as ''The Elder One'', is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Geetu Mohandas, and jointly produced by S. Vinod Kumar, Anurag Kashyap, Ajay G. Rai and Alan McAlex. Featurin ...
participated festivals