Akshay Oberoi on landing ‘Toxic’ after Geetu Mohandas watched ‘Fighter’: ‘It’s all thanks to her 13-year-old daughter’ | Hindi Movie News

Akshay Oberoi on landing ‘Toxic’ after Geetu Mohandas watched ‘Fighter’: ‘It’s all thanks to her 13-year-old daughter’

Akshay Oberoi‘s brief but memorable turn in ‘Toxic: A Fairytale For Grown-Ups’ has earned him considerable praise, and the actor has now revealed the rather unexpected story of how he landed the role, which starts with a chance family movie night.

How a 13-ear-old set the wheels in motion

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Akshay explained that director Geetu Mohandas stumbled upon his performance in Fighter (2024) purely by coincidence, thanks to her daughter. “She saw my film ‘Fighter’ (2024), after which she got in touch with me. It’s all thanks to her 13-year-old daughter, by the way! Geetu’s meeting had got cancelled and she was free. Her daughter insisted that she wanted to see ‘Fighter’. She agreed. She saw me in Fighter, liked my performance and sourced my number,” he shared.

‘The Godfather’-inspired audition

Before finalising his casting, Geetu wanted to gauge his acting range in English. According to Akshay, she specifically asked casting director Yash Nagarkoti about this. “She told casting director Yash Nagarkoti that ‘I know how he acts in Hindi, but I want to see how he acts in English’,” he recalled. Nagarkoti then suggested he perform Moe Greene’s iconic dialogue from ‘The Godfather’ as a test.Rather than opting for a quick, casual recording, Akshay decided to put in serious effort. “I wore a suit, did my hair, performed the entire scene on camera and sent it to her. She told me she hadn’t expected that,” he said, adding, “Audio bhej ke kya karta main? If I had a chance to make you watch me act, I thought I should put it on tape and do it in the best way possible.”

‘Toxic’ as a major learning experience

Reflecting on his time working on the film, Akshay described it as one of the most educational chapters of his career so far. “It’s the film where I probably learned the most, including about the business of cinema. There were so many big stars, and hence, it was a complete learning graph,” he shared, highlighting how being surrounded by a large ensemble cast shaped his understanding of the industry.

About ‘Toxic’

Directed by Geetu Mohandas, ‘Toxic’ stars Yash in the lead role, alongside Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth, Huma Qureshi and Akshay Oberoi. The film released in theatres on August 26, 2026.