Star of films like ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’, ‘Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya’ and many other superhits, Genelia D’Souza celebrates her 35th birthday on August 5. She has won millions of hearts with her performances and bubbly nature. She is a popular star in the South Indian film industry as well.
Here is a look at some lesser-known facts about her
Before making it in acting, Genelia was a state-level athlete and national-level footballer in college.
Genelia’s name is a combination of her parents names -- Jeanette D'Souza and Neil D'Souza.
Genelia has won a Filmfare Award for a Telugu film. Her first Filmfare award was for the Bommarillu, which was a blockbuster hit and is still considered one of her best acting performances. A remake of the film was done in Tamil, titled ‘Santosh Subramanian’ starring Genelia opposite Jayam Ravi.
Genelia made her debut in a commercial ad with Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. Genelia was only 15 years old when she made her acting debut alongside Amitabh Bachchan in a Parker pen ad.
Her love story with Ritesh Deshmukh started during the shoot of her Bollywood debut film ‘Tujhe Meri Kasam’ when she was just 21. The duo dated for about a decade before getting married in 2014.
Genelia is also a great social worker. She has appeared in Telugu shows like Netru, Indru, and Nalai which helped in raising funds for homeless women suffering from mental illness.(Edited by : Priyanka Deshpande)
