Before taking on a much larger project with Yash, Geetu Mohandas established her filmmaking voice through stories marked by emotional intensity, strong characters and an uncompromising visual style.
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How Geetu Mohandas evolved as a filmmaker before taking on Toxic (PC: Meta AI)
Malayalam industry’s talented filmmaker, Geetu Mohandas, is stepping into a much bigger arena with Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, but the filmmaker’s approach to the project did not begin with its large cast or ambitious scaleHer roots lie in independent cinema where intimate stories, difficult characters and harsh realities took centre stageFilms such as Liar’s Dice and Moothon established her as a filmmaker drawn to people caught in situations they cannot easily escapeThat experience now gives Toxic an interesting foundationThe film brings her into a period gangster world led by Kannada superstar Yash while allowing her to carry the emotional intensity and visual darkness that have long been part of her cinematic world.
Liar’s Dice gave Geetu Mohandas her first strong cinematic identity
Before Toxic, Geetu Mohandas had already shown that she could build tension without depending on spectacleHer first feature Liar’s Dice follows Kamala, a woman from a remote Himalayan village who travels with her young daughter in search of her missing husbandThe journey takes her far from home and places her in unfamiliar surroundings where survival becomes increasingly difficult.
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Geetanjali Thapa played Kamala while Nawazuddin Siddiqui appeared as an army deserter who crosses paths with herThe child artist Manya Gupta essayed the role of Kamala’s daughter, which later becomes the anchor of Mohandas’ masterpieceThe film used a restrained visual style to explore migration, poverty, displacement and lonelinessRather than turning Kamala’s journey into a conventional thriller, Mohandas kept the focus on her emotional state and the choices forced upon her.
That is an important part of her filmmaking languageEven when her characters move through dangerous situations, the story remains rooted in their personal strugglesLiar’s Dice established her ability to create tension through atmosphere and character rather than relying entirely on action.
Watch Liar’s Dice’ trailer here
Moothon took that darkness into the criminal underworld
Moothon showed another side of Geetu MohandasThe 2019 film follows Mulla, a young boy from Lakshadweep who travels to Mumbai looking for his missing elder brotherHis search takes him into the dangerous world of Kamathipura where crime, identity and survival become closely connectedNivin Pauly played Akbar aka Bhai (probably one of his darkest portrayal yet) while Sanjana Dipu portrayed MullaThe film also featured Roshan Mathew, Shashank Arora and Sobhita Dhulipala in important roles.
The world of Moothon was considerably darker than that of Liar’s DiceIts Mumbai setting was filled with violence and uncertainty yet Mohandas continued to place human emotion at the centre of the storyThe characters were not presented simply as heroes or villainsTheir choices were shaped by trauma, desire, fear and unwanted circumstances.
Watch trailer of Moothon here
Toxic takes those ideas to a much bigger canvas
Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups gives Mohandas a far larger playgroundThe film is set in Goa during a turbulent period stretching from the early 1940s to the 1970s and centres on the rise of a powerful criminal empireThe story places its characters amid smuggling routes power struggles betrayal and shifting loyalties.
Yash plays Raya and the film also features Nayanthara as Ganga, Kiara Advani as Nadia, Huma Qureshi as Elizabeth, Tara Sutaria as Rebecca and Rukmini Vasanth as MellisaThe ensemble also includes Akshay Oberoi, Sudev Nair, Sanjeeda Shaikh and other talented actors in supporting roles.
The scale is clearly different from Mohandas’ earlier workYet the emotional foundation remains familiarToxic is not simply about a man operating inside a criminal worldIts story deals with power, loyalty, violence, wrath, revenge and the consequences of choices which simply allows Mohandas to bring the character-driven sensibility of her independent films into a much larger commercial setting.
Watch official trailer of Toxic here
What Geetu Mohandas brings to Toxic?
The most interesting part of Toxic may therefore be the filmmaker behind itMohandas has moved from a small-scale story about a woman searching for her husband to a complex underworld drama involving a major star and an expansive period settingLiar’s Dice taught her how to turn displacement into emotional tension while Moothon allowed her to explore crime, identity and fractured relationships through a much harsher environment.
Meanwhile, Toxic appears to bring those experiences together while giving them a considerably larger canvasWith its larger-than-life setup, unexpected twists and turns and Yash taking on a double role as both father and son, the film has already created strong curiosity among audiencesOne of its biggest talking points is also its female ensemble, with five prominent actresses coming together for a gangster drama of this scale.
However, that does not mean Toxic will simply be a bigger version of her earlier filmsIts commercial scale and star power present a different challenge but for those familiar with Mohandas’ filmography and her subtle approach to storytelling, the film’s dark mood and complex characters feel like a natural next step in her filmmaking journey.
It will be exciting to see how things unfold for Geetu Mohandas and Team Toxic as the film gears up for its grand release on August 26, 2026.
