Genelia D'Souza on venturing into South Cinema: I was told Bollywood dropouts...

Genelia D’Souza is currently in between the promotions of Trial Period. She has starred in more than 30 movies in her two-decade-long career, with her latest being her first direct-to-digital release. Not just in Bollywood, Genelia has worked in South cinema as well. 

3 things you need to know 

• Genelia D’Souza made her debut in 2003 with the Bollywood movie Tujhe Meri Kasam but proceeded to star in Tamil and Telugu films.
• The actress is married to Riteish Deshmukh since 2012. 
• She stars in the recent film, Trial Period alongside Manav Kaul. 

Genelia D’Souza is not in touch with her co-stars

Genelia D’Souza juggled between working in Hindi and South Indian language movies long before the concept of pan-India films came into existence. The actress has starred in multiple South movies alongside Jr NTR, Allu Arjun and Nithiin.

In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, she was asked if she is still in touch with her old co-stars. The actress revealed that she has lost touch with them, but if they ever meet, they "pick up from where they left off". 

(Genelia and Jr NTR headlined the Telugu movie Samba (2004) | Image: Twitter)

Making a revelation about the South cinema industry, she said, “When I did South films then they used to say that Bollywood dropouts go to the South, then.” However, adding to this she also mentioned that she “loved” doing those films and “fell in love” with her craft because of them. 

Genelia D’Souza on pan-Indian films

In the same interview, the actress appreciated the emergence of pan-Indian movies and said, “It's really good to see India is no more regional cinema--South, North, Punjabi or Marathi cinema. It's a blanket of Indian cinema.” She was also asked if her struggle in the South industry was the same as her co-stars like Allu Arjun and Jr NTR. To this Genelia quipped, “They were big stars. In the South, they have a very loyal fan base. They come from a legacy of films. I, on the other hand, was an outsider in two films.”

Genelia D’Souza made her acting debut in 2003 with the Hindi film Tujhe Meri Kasam and appeared in the Tamil film Boys and Telugu movie Satyam in 2003. Genelia is a true multi-lingual actor, having featured in ten Hindi films, six Tamil films, ten Telugu films and one film each in Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi languages, so far.