Genelia D'Souza (born on August 5, 1982)[1] is an Indian film actress, model, and host appearing in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil as well as Kannada language films. She first came into the limelight in a Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan. She made her acting debut in the Hindi movie Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003, which failed to propel her career in Bollywood, but soon achieved recognition in the Tamil film Boys the same year. She subsequently acted in many Telugu movies during from 2003 to 2005, which earned her recognition in the Telugu film industry.
D'Souza received her first Telugu Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 2006 for her performance in the romantic film, Bommarillu, which earned her critical acclaim. She made her Kannada debut in 2007 in Satya In Love. She made a comeback to Bollywood in 2008, and was appreciated for her performance in Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. In addition to movie acting, D'Souza hosts the television show Big Switch, and is the brand ambassador of Fanta, Virgin Mobile India, FasTrack, LG Mobiles, Garnier Light and Perk in India.
Early Life:
Born in Mumbai[2] into a Mangalorean Catholic family,[3] D'Souza was raised a Roman Catholic in the Bandra suburb of Mumbai.[4] Her mother Jeanette D'Souza was formerly a secretary to managing director with a Pharma MNC, who left her job in 2004 to help Genelia with her career. Her father Neil D'Souza, is a senior official with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).[5] She also has a younger brother, Nigel D'Souza.[6][7] According to D'Souza, her name "Genelia", means "rare" or "unique", and is a portmanteau of Jeanette and Neil, her mother and father's name. She is also often informally referred to as Geenu, her nick name.[8] 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.[1] 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.[9] She liked sports and studies in college,[9] and was also a State level athlete, sprinter and a National level Football player.[10] D'Souza did her first modeling assignment at age 15,[4] the result of being spotted as the bridesmaid at a wedding.[9] 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.[9][11]
She gained wide attention from the Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan,[12] who said "she was good, and her expressions were spontaneous".[13] She further did a Fair and Lovely 2003 Cricket World Cup advertisement with cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
Acting 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 they insisted and kept contacting her for two months, and she agreed when she saw the Telugu version of the movie.[11] D'Souza made her acting debut in Bollywood in 2003,[14] with Tujhe Meri Kasam, alongside Ritesh Deshmukh.[5] The movie centers on two friends, who study in the same college, have houses opposite each other, and were born in the same hospital on the same day. D'Souza portrayed Anju, one of the friends.[15] The movie garnered poor box office returns,[16] and it failed to propel her career in Bollywood.[17] Following her poor debut in Bollywood, she decided to act in South Indian films.[2] 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, a story about about five teenagers having stereotypical teen-boy fantasies.[18] D'Souza portrayed the character of Harini, a girl who falls in love with one of the boys from the group. The movie was well received,[19] and subsequently she started receiving Telugu film offers.[18]
She left Tamil cinema for a while to concentrate on the Telugu film industry. She made her Telugu debut in Satyam in 2003 opposite Sumanth, in which she played the role of a medical student, for which she was praised for her performance.[20] The movie was a box-office success,[20][21] and it raised her profile in the Telugu film industry.[18] Broader public recognition came to D'Souza in her second Hindi movie, Masti in 2004, which was also opposite Ritesh Deshmukh. The comedy focuses on three close friends who reunite after three years, but are now married and are being harassed by their wives. D'Souza portrayed the character of one of the wives.[22] Indian film critic Taran Adarsh was complimentary of D'Souza's role, saying, "Amongst the wives, Genelia is the best, [...] Genelia looks the stern and demanding wife and is sure to be noticed."[23] This film was a critical success, and also fared well at the UK box office.[22] The same year, she appeared in the Telugu fim Samba.[24] Her final Telugu movie in 2004 was Sye, set against a rugby union backdrop, in which she played the role of a vivacious college student.[25]
In 2005, D'Souza experienced a slump in her career. Her first Telugu movie in 2005, Naa Alludu, was commercially unsuccessful.[26] Later that year, she starred in the Tamil romantic entertainer Sachein, in which she played the role of Shalini, a typical fashionable college-going Tamil girl.[27] A review in the The Hindu noted, "Genelia, who hardly made an impression in Boys, makes much impact in Sachein."[28] The movie evoked mixed response from audiences, but was well received with the younger generation, and was a commercial success.[29] She later appeared in the Telugu patriotic movie Subhash Chandra Bose set against a backdrop of Pre-independece period, which was also an economic failure.
Turning point in South Indian films, 2006–April 2008
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, and the other was Raam.[31] She then portrayed the role of Haasini, a vibrant, effervescent and a happy-go-lucky young girl, in the 2006 Telugu romantic film Bommarillu, alongside Siddharth Narayan. The movie, a blockbuster at the box-office, grossed Rs 250 million (US$ 5.58 million) in India, and also won the 2006 Golden Nandi award.[32] Her character was well-received by critics,[33][34][35][36] and garnered her the Telugu Filmfare Award for Best Actress,[1] besides Nandi Special Jury Award and Santosham Award for Best Actress. Following the success of Bommarillu, D'Souza played the role of the daughter of a local don, in the Tamil gangster film Chennai Kadhal.[37] D'Souza's performance received ambivalent reviews. While The Hindu praised her performance, Rediff criticized her commenting, "Genelia stands up yet again to prove the point that if you are pretty and well dressed, you can get away with anything, without acting."[37]
Shortly afterwards in 2007, D'Souza played the role of sister of a notorious gangster in the blockbuster Telugu movie Dhee. Her performance was appreciated, netting her the FNCC Best Actress Award.[38] The following year, D'Souza appeared in the 2008 Telugu romatic thriller Mr. Medhavi, in which she portrayed the role of a student from Canada. The movie was moderately successful, nonetheless D'Souza was complimented for her performance.[39] She made her Kannada debut in Satya In Love the same year, in which she was appreciated for her smile.[40] Later, she was cast in a leading role in Santhosh Subramaniam, a Tamil remake of Bommarillu. The film also turned out to be rather successful as its predecessor.[41][42] Sify described D'Souza's portrayal as "the soul of the film" and the film's "biggest strength",[43] however Rediff described her character as "appears a little too good to be true."
Return to Bollywood and recent work, June 2008–present
In June 2008, she once again appeared in Bollywood in Mere Baap Pehle Aap alongside Akshaye Khanna. Her performance received predominantly positive reviews, with a Rediff review noting, "besides her apparent cuteness, brings in tons of freshness and traits to the youthful characters she chooses to play",[44] and a Sify review criticizing, "Genelia is sprightly but has a standard two-three expressions bank in this film."[45] She later appeared in the Telugu love story Ready alongside Ram, which was well received.[46] Her breakthrough performance in 2008 was through the portrayal of the role of Aditi Mahant in the blockbuster Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, which was an economic success across India and overseas, grossing Rs 564.1 million (US$ 12.58 million).[47] Her role was widely admired for her sweetness and freshness, and new style of acting, with Rediff describing her acting as a "spark that has been missing in Hindi cinema for well over a decade now".[48] In that same year, D'Souza acted in the Telugu romantic comedy Sasirekha Parinayam.[49] The movie received favorable reviews, and Sify noted in their review that, "The life of the film is definitely Genelia and she has shown the varied emotions from innocence, sadness, romance and anger in equal proportions without a hitch."[50]
In 2009, D'Souza was cast in the Hindi film Life Partner alongside Fardeen Khan, in which she was criticized for her performance. Indian fim critic Rajeev Masand commented, "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."[51] Her next appearance was in the Telugu thriller Katha. In 2010, D'Souza appeared in Ken Ghosh`s film Chance Pe Dance alongside Shahid Kapoor, in which she portrayed the role of a choreographer.[52] The movie received poor review from critics, and D'Souza's performance was not well received.[53][54] She will appear in David Dhawan's film Hook Ya Crook, co-starring John Abraham and Shreyas Talpade.[55] She will play the lead female role in Ram Charan Teja's upcoming movie Orange, directed by Bommarillu Bhasker.[56] D'Souza is set to appear in It's My Life, which would be a remake of Bomarillu in Hindi with Harman Baweja.[55] She has also signed on to appear in the Tamil film Ready opposite Dhanush, which would be the Tamil remake of her 2009 Telugu film Ready
Other work and events:
D'Souza was a part of Tamil director Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai, an event which seeks to raise funds for The Banyan, a voluntary organisation which rehabilitates homeless women with mental illness in Chennai.[58] She was one of the judges at the grand finale of Gladrags Mega Model and Manhunt 2009 contest on 28 March 2009.[59] She also walked the ramp alongside Tushar Kapoor for fashion designer Manish Malhotra at the Lakme Fashion Week 2009 on 28 March 2009.[60] On April 5, 2009, D'Souza was among several Bollywood celebrities to perform at the Pantaloons Femina Miss India 2009 finale in Mumbai.[61] In October 2009, she appeared as a showstopper for jewellery designer Farah Khan on the second season of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) India Couture Week, a platform created to celebrate India’s fashion heritage by showcasing the country’s leading couture designers.[62][63] On October 24, 2009, D'Souza began hosting Big Switch, a television show based on slum kids on UTV Bindass channel to reach a bigger audience.[64][65][66]
She is now the brand ambassador of the soft drink Fanta replacing Rani Mukherjee, the chocolate Perk replacing Preity Zinta,[67] and Spinz deodorant.[68] She has also unveiled Spinz Black Magic deodorant on October 7, 2009 in Mumbai, and the Ceres Store retail outlet.[68] At the Chennai International Fashion Week (CIFW) in December 2009, she appeared as a showstopper for designer Ishita Singh's spring-summer indigenous collection of 2010, showcasing the best of Indian and Western dresses.[69] She also holds a Limca world record of delivering four different super hit films in four different languages, Bommarillu (Telugu), Satya In Love (Kannada), Santosh Subramaniam (Tamil), and Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (Hindi) in a span of one calendar year.
In The Media:
D'Souza has been often tagged in the media as the "bubbly girl", after portraying the role of a young energetic girl in several movies, especially Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008).[71] She appeared alongside Shahid Kapoor on the fourth episode of Tere Mere Beach Mein, a celebrity chat show, hosted by Farah Khan. The theme of the show was "Second Innings", since both D'Souza and Kapoor had the same history of failures initially and success later in their acting careers
Personal life:
D'Souza is deeply religious and is a devout Roman Catholic. She says that, she regularly attends Sunday Mass at St. Anne's Parish (Bandra), and whenever the family is home, a part of their evening is reserved for saying the rosary together.[6] In an interview with The Times of India, she comments, "I keep a Novena every Wednesday at St. Michael’s Church in Mahim."[4] In an interview with Daily News and Analysis, she said that "My communication with God is conversational, [...] I'm God's favourite child; I believe that God has always been kind to me."[6] Tabloids have repeatedly linked D'Souza romantically with Ritesh Deshmukh, ever since they starred together in their debut film Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003.[74] They were reportedly ready to get engaged, but Ritesh's father, the then-Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh did not agree.[75] Ever since then, D'Souza has strongly denied any rumors of a relationship with Deshmukh, and responds that she has just friendly relations with him.
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