Genelia D'Souza
Genelia Deshmukh, also credited professionally as Genelia, is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil films. Described in the media as one of the leading South Indian actresses of the 2000s, D'Souza is a recipient of several accolades including a Filmfare Award South and two Nandi Awards.
After gaining attention in a Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan, D'Souza began her acting career with the Hindi film Tujhe Meri Kasam, and earned recognition in the Tamil film Boys, the same year. D'Souza received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for portraying a bubbly girl in the romantic comedy Bommarillu. She further earned praises for her portrayals in the 2008 romantic comedies Santosh Subramaniam and Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. D'Souza established herself with commercially successful films—Satyam, Masti, Sye, Sachein, Happy, Dhee, Ready, Katha, Urumi, Force, Velayudham and Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya. Her performances in Bommarillu and Katha earned her two Nandi Special Jury Award.
Following her marriage to Riteish Deshmukh, with whom she has two sons, she took a long hiatus from acting. D'Souza had a career comeback with the Marathi film Ved, for which she received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Marathi. In addition to acting in films, D'Souza hosted the television shows Big Switch and Ladies vs Gentlemen. She is also a celebrity endorser for several brands and products.
Early life
Born in Bombay, India D'Souza is a Mangalorean Catholic. She was raised in the Bandra suburb of Bombay. Her mother, Jeanette D'Souza, was a managing director of the Pharma Multinational Corporation. She left her job in 2004 to help D'Souza with her career. Her father, Neil D'Souza, is a senior official with Tata Consultancy Services. She has a younger brother, Nigel D'Souza, who works with the Bombay Stock Exchange.According to D'Souza, her name means "rare" or "unique", and is a portmanteau of Jeanette and Neil, her mother and father's names. She is also often informally referred to as Geenu, her nickname. D'Souza studied at the Apostolic Carmel High School in Bandra and later joined St. Andrew's College in Bandra to pursue her bachelor's degree of Management Studies. She completed her degree while shooting for her first film, Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003 and initially thought that an MNC job would suit her. D'Souza liked sports and studies in college, and was a state level athlete, sprinter, and a national level football player.
D'Souza did her first modelling assignment at the age of 15, the result of being spotted as the bridesmaid at a wedding. She was selected for the Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan, just two days before her exams, and had to shoot the next day. Initially, she refused, because of her exam the next day, but the director persuaded D'Souza to shoot for the commercial. She gained wide attention from the Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan, who said "she was good, and her expressions were spontaneous". She further did a Fair & Lovely 2003 Cricket World Cup advertisement with former cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
Career
Debut and breakthrough (2003–2005)
When D'Souza was offered a role in Tujhe Meri Kasam, initially she turned it down, as she was not keen to pursue a career in acting. But the crew insisted and kept contacting her for two months, and she agreed when she saw the Telugu version of the film. Tamil director, S. Shankar, was impressed with her performance in the Parker Pen commercial and decided to cast her in a leading role in his 2003 Tamil film Boys. D'Souza was selected among 300 girls, who had auditioned for the movie. She signed three movies simultaneously in three different languages, Tujhe Meri Kasam opposite Riteish Deshmukh, Boys opposite Siddharth, and Satyam opposite Sumanth.D'Souza's professional film career began with her Hindi film debut Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003. Film critic Taran Adarsh noted, "D'Souza is a wonderful performer. She catches you unaware with a performance that's natural to the core." The film was a box–office success and earned her nomination for Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female. However, it could not do much to propel her career in Hindi cinema. Later, she decided to act in South Indian films. The same year, she made her Tamil debut as the teenage girl Harini in Boys, a story about 5 teenagers having stereotypical teen–boy fantasies. The movie, though noted for its vulgar sexual content, was a box–office success, and subsequently she started receiving Telugu film offers. She left Tamil cinema for a while to concentrate on the Telugu film industry. She made her Telugu debut in 2003 as a medical student in Satyam. Sify noted in their review that, "D'Souza is excellent as her body language is her major asset." The film was well received, and it raised her profile in the Telugu film industry. The film won her the CineMAA Award for Best Female Debut.
In 2004, D'Souza appeared in her second Hindi film, Masti opposite Riteish Deshmukh. The comedy focuses on 3 close friends who reunite after 3 years, but are now married and are being harassed by their wives. D'Souza portrayed the character of one of the wives. Taran Adarsh was complimentary of D'Souza's role, saying, "Amongst the wives, D'Souza is the best, D'Souza looks the stern and demanding wife and is sure to be noticed." The film was a box–office success and she received the Stardust Award for Breakthrough Performance – Female nomination. The same year, she appeared in two Telugu movies Samba alongside Jr. NTR, and Sye opposite Nithiin, both succeeding at the box office.
After appearing in her first Telugu movie in 2005, Naa Alludu opposite Jr. NTR, she starred in the Tamil romantic entertainer Sachein opposite Vijay. A review in The Hindu noted, "D'Souza, who hardly made an impression in Boys, makes much impact in Sachein." The movie evoked mixed response from audiences, but was well received with the younger generation. She later appeared in the Telugu patriotic film Subhash Chandra Bose alongside Venkatesh, a box-office failure.
Critical acclaim and commercial success (2006–2010)
The year 2006 marked a significant turning point in D'Souza's career. She completed two Telugu movies in early 2006, one was the romantic comedy Happy opposite Allu Arjun, which was a moderate success and the other was Raam opposite Nithiin. In Happy, she played an MBBS student who marries a carefree boy, with Idlebrain stating, "Genelia has got lots of scope for performance in this film and she did exceptionally well". She then portrayed the role of Haasini, a vibrant, effervescent and a happy–go–lucky young girl, in the Telugu romantic comedy Bommarillu, reuniting with Siddharth. The film was a blockbuster at the box office, and grossed. Her performance received high praise, and garnered her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu, besides the Nandi Special Jury Award. Sify concluded about her acting in their review that, "The scene stealer is D'Souza with her innocent looks and cute mannerisms. She does not overact and we just fall in love with her character. D'Souza looks like a dream in chic skirts and is the life of the party and raises the bar of the film."Following the success of Bommarillu, D'Souza played the role of the daughter of a local don, in the Tamil gangster film Chennai Kadhal alongside Boys co-star Bharath. Sriram Iyer from Rediff.com criticised her commenting: "D'Souza stands up yet again to prove the point that if you are pretty and well dressed, you can get away with anything, without acting." Shortly afterward, she played the role of the sister of a notorious gangster in the blockbuster Telugu film Dhee alongside Vishnu Manchu, set against a gang war backdrop. Jeevi of Idlebrain.com was appreciative of her portrayal and contribute to the film. She earned her second Filmfare Best Actress – Telugu nomination for the film.
The following year, D'Souza appeared in the Telugu romantic thriller Mr. Medhavi with Raja, in which she portrayed the role of a student from Canada. The film was successful, with Radhika Rajamani complimenting her performance saying, "D'Souza is her effervescent self – full of joie–de–vivre and lights up the screen." She made her Kannada debut in Satya in Love the same year opposite Shiva Rajkumar, which was a box-office success. Later, she was cast in a leading role in Santosh Subramaniam opposite Jayam Ravi, a Tamil remake of Bommarillu. The film turned out to be successful just like its predecessor. Sify described D'Souza's portrayal as "the soul of the film" and the film's "biggest strength", however Rediff.coms Pavithra Srinivasan described her character as "appears a little too good to be true." She received Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil nomination for her performance.
In June 2008, following a nearly 5–year gap from Hindi cinema, she appeared in Mere Baap Pehle Aap alongside Akshaye Khanna, which failed to make profit at the box office. Sukanya Verma noted, "besides her apparent cuteness, brings in tons of freshness and traits to the youthful characters she chooses to play", while Sonia Chopra criticised her stating, "D'Souza is sprightly but has a standard two–three expressions bank in this film." She later appeared in the Telugu romantic comedy Ready opposite Ram Pothineni, playing an NRI girl. The film was well received and became one of the highest grossing Telugu fim of 2008. Radhika Rajamani opined that D'Souza "lights up the screen" with her performance. A critic from Sify was appreciative of her "vibrant" performance.
That year, her breakthrough performance came with the blockbuster romantic comedy-drama Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, in which she portrayed the central character of a college student, Aditi opposite Imran Khan. It was a major commercial success across India and overseas, grossing. Her role was widely admired for her sweetness and freshness, with Raja Sen describing her acting as a "spark that has been missing in Hindi cinema for well over a decade now". While, Khalid Mohamed of Hindustan Times found her to be "consistently spontaneous". Her performance earned her several nominations including Screen Award for Best Actress and Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow – Female.
In 2009, D'Souza appeared in the Telugu romantic comedy Sasirekha Parinayam alongside Tarun. The film received favourable reviews, with critics calling her "the life of the film" and praising her portrayal of emotions. She also received CineMAA Award for Best Actor – Female nomination. D'Souza then appeared opposite Fardeen Khan in the Hindi film Life Partner a box office average, where Rajeev Masand noted: "The adorable little imp from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na has turned into a nagging harridan in this film, and how you wish she'd immediately enroll for acting lessons." Her next appearance was in the Telugu thriller Katha with Adith Arun, which was well received, and for which she won another Nandi Special Jury Award. A critic from Rediff.com noted, "Genelia steals the show with her tremendous screen presence. She is able to portray the 'psychological' trauma well and is really emerging as a fine actor to portray complex characters."
In 2010, D'Souza first played a choreographer opposite Shahid Kapoor in Chance Pe Dance, which received poor reviews from critics. Rajeev Masand criticised her "half-baked role". D'Souza then played a college student who believes in true love in the Telugu film Orange opposite Ram Charan, which too received poor reviews from critics, but a critic from Rediff.com praised her portrayal and chemistry with Charan. In her final film of the year, she appeared in the Tamil film Uthama Puthiran opposite Dhanush, a remake of her film Ready. The film became a moderate success. A critic from The Times of India found her getting "stereotyped" in a similar role of a bubbly girl.