Over the last 12 years, Kiara Advani has played many characters, each one different from the other. She has graduated from playing Sakshi Rawat in MS Dhoni: The Untold Story to Wing Commander Kavya Luthra in War 2. Now, she is returning to the big screen playing the cruel Nadia in Geetu Mohandas’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups. Speaking to Grazia India, the filmmaker revealed that Kiara was always his first choice for the role. read on!
Geetu Mohandas on casting Kiara Advani in Toxic
After welcoming her baby girl Saraya Malhotra in July 2025, Kiara Advani is back with a bang with Geetu Mohandas’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups. In a recent interview, the South Indian filmmaker revealed what made him choose the Bollywood actress as the fiery Nadia. Expressing his views, the director said that the character is a symbol of fragility and cruelty. Hence, Kiara was his first and only choice from the beginning.
Mohandas said, “There is something about her screen presence that feels deeply human. Sometimes cinema starts not with logic, but with emotion and casting Kiara was exactly that kind of emotion.” Talking about Advani’s quiet process of delving into the deeper layers of her character, Geetu revealed that the diva’s dedication is not loud or demonstrative.
But it is calm, disciplined and deeply honest. The director noticed that Kiara doesn’t just follow instructions; She takes part in building the emotional structure of the character. The National Award-winning filmmaker said, “You can see that he has spent time living the character in his mind long before the cameras started rolling. But what really sets him apart is his curiosity, which turns the filmmaking process into a conversation rather than a one-way direction.”
Kiara is known to put her heart and soul into playing her characters and she did the same with Toxic. Playing Nadia required a lot as an actor and as a human being. It pushed the actress physically and emotionally. Fuglie’s first actress played her role so well that Geetu could see the character breathing in front of the camera. “As a director, those moments are magical,” concludes the filmmaker, proud and confident in his decision to bring Kiara Advani on board.
For those unaware, Toxic is arriving in theaters on June 4, 2026 with Yash, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth and other impressive cast.
Also read: Karan Johar reviews ‘heart-wrenching’ Dhurandhar The Revenge, calls Ranveer Singh an ‘actor with huge potential’