Genelia Deshmukh (née D'Souza; born 5 August 1987) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil language films.
2000
Having acted in several commercially successful movies in Telugu and Tamil, D'Souza was described as one of the leading actresses of the South Indian film industry in the 2000s.
Born in Mumbai, D'Souza is a Mangalorean Catholic.
She was raised in the Bandra suburb of Mumbai.
Her mother, Jeanette D'Souza, was a managing director of the Pharma Multinational Corporation.
2003
After gaining wide attention in a Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan, D'Souza began her acting career with the box–office hit Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003.
She was recognized for her role in Boys the same year.
Her notable films include Satyam (2003), Sye (2004), Sachein (2005), Happy (2006), Dhee (2007), Ready (2008), Katha (2009), Urumi (2011), and the Hindi films Masti (2004), Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008), Force (2011), Ved (2022).
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.
She liked sports and studies in college, and was a state level athlete, sprinter, and a national level football player
D'Souza did her first modeling 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 cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
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 (Hindi), Boys (Tamil), and Satyam (Telugu).
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.
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.
2004
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 also 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.
2006
D'Souza received her first Filmfare Award in 2006 for her performance in the Telugu romantic comedy film Bommarillu, which earned her critical acclaim.
2008
In 2008, she gave critically acclaimed performances in Santosh Subramaniam, a Tamil remake of Bommarillu, and the Hindi film Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na.
In addition to mainstream acting, D'Souza has hosted the television show Big Switch.
