Kiara Advani reveals why director Geetu Mohandas asked her to skip the pleasantries on 'Toxic' set

Highlights:

• Kiara Advani stars opposite Yash in Toxic.
• Director Geetu Mohandas asked her to avoid greetings on set.
• The film was shot in Kannada and English.
• Kiara says the process was challenging for her.
• Toxic is now scheduled to release on June 4.

Fans are eagerly waiting for Toxic, starring Kiara Advani and Yash. In a recent interview, Kiara spoke about her experience working on the film and shared how director Geetu Mohandas wanted her to stay fully focused while shooting.

Kiara said Geetu Mohandas did not want her to greet people on set before filming scenes. The actor explained that she normally enjoys talking to everyone when she arrives at work, but the director wanted her to remain in character.

Speaking to Bombay Times, Kiara said, “Geetu is like, okay, tomorrow when you come on set, I want you to be… and I’m a person when I walk on set I’m always like, ‘Hi, what’s up, good morning’, I’m that person. And she’s like, ‘I don’t want pleasantries, I want you to come in that zone, no hi hello, not your team, nobody, just be in a zone today’.”

Kiara also spoke about the challenges of filming the movie in two languages. Toxic was shot in both Kannada and English. She admitted that learning and performing dialogues in Kannada was difficult because it is not her native language.

She said, “Working in Kannada, I think I would say Toxic has been challenging because it’s for the first time that we shot in both English and Kannada. We would do the same scene. So this shot was an English shot first till we got the take right. Then we do the Kannada take, because you’re, at least for someone like me, Kannada not being my language, mugging up my dialogues literally the night before."

Kiara also shared that her character Nadia changed the way she thinks about love and relationships. She said the film explores man-woman dynamics in a different way. According to the actor, it took her some time to understand the world of the movie and accept it as normal.

She added that some viewers may see the film as risky, but everyone understands relationships and emotions differently based on their own experiences and beliefs.

Toxic features Yash in a dual role alongside Kiara Advani. The cast also includes Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, and Rukmini Vasanth in important roles.

The movie is reportedly being made on a budget of $81-93 million. It was first planned for release on April 10, 2025. Later, the release date changed to March 19, 2026.

The makers later delayed the film again because of the Iran-US conflict. Reports said South Indian films have a strong audience in Middle Eastern countries, and the conflict affected that market. The producers also wanted to avoid a clash with Dhurandhar 2.

The film is now scheduled to release on June 4.