Genelia D'Souza is proud of her ‘boys’ Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Allu Arjun: ‘We started our career together’

Genelia D'Souza is making a comeback to Telugu cinema after 13 long years with Junior. She spoke to the press about her film and more.

Actor Genelia D’Souza, nee Deshmukh, had a stellar run in Telugu cinema before she married Riteish Deshmukh and took a sabbatical. After the 2012 film Naa Ishtam, she is returning to Telugu cinema with Junior, co-starring Kireeti and Sreeleela. Talking to the press in Hyderabad about her return, she mentioned how proud she is of her ‘boys’ Ram Charan, Jr NTR and Allu Arjun.

Genelia D'Souza worked with Ram Charan in the 2010 film Orange.

Genelia D’Souza proud of Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Allu Arjun’s stardom

Genelia mentioned to the press that she watched RRR and it made her wonder if these were the same ‘boys’ she once acted with. She said, “When I saw RRR and all, I was like wow. These are the same boys I worked with in Orange and other films. I’ve known them as friends, right? Because we all started our careers together. I’ve not been in touch, of course.”

She listed out the qualities she admires in all three actors, stating that she’s happy to have been a part of their journey. “But I’ve always thought of NTR as extremely gifted. He used to have three pages of dialogue, he used to just look at it and go to take. I wonder how. And Ram Charan had this amazing flair; it was just inbuilt. Allu Arjun was so energetic. So today, when I see them as superstars with their children and families, I’m happy to have had a part in their lives when they were younger and when we were all growing up,” said Genelia.

For the unversed, Genelia worked with Jr NTR in Samba (2004) and Naa Alludu (2005), with Ram in Orange (2010) and Arjun in Happy (2006).

Says she owes her career to the south

Genela also mentioned how big a part the south Indian film industry played in her career and said, “I owe my career to the south. I started my career with a Hindi film, Tujhe Meri Kasam(2003), which was a remake of Nuvve Kavali (2000). I found Riteish, my life partner, there. Then I did Boys and Satyam (in 2003). People asked me not to do Satyam, they wanted me to do only films like Boys. The thing is, you go with intent. That’s how I chose my work, and that’s how it chose me. I worked in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa after 6 years in Hindi, and people thought I was a newcomer. I said no, I have already done good work.”

Genelia was most recently seen in the Aamir Khan-starrer Sitaare Zameen Par. Junior will be released in theatres on 18 July. She will also be seen in the Hindi-Marathi film Raja Shivaji.