Genelia Deshmukh says she is 'proud' of Jr NTR, Ram Charan, and Allu Arjun: 'We all began our careers around the same time, so I've known them as friends'
Genelia D'Souza is back where it all began. After over a decade away from Telugu cinema, the beloved actress is returning to the big screen with Junior—a romantic drama that pairs her with debutant Kireeti Reddy and
Sreeleela
. As she steps back into the world that helped shape her early stardom, Genelia is not just revisiting her roots but also celebrating the journey of her former co-stars
Jr NTR
,
Ram Charan
, and Allu Arjun—actors she proudly calls her friends.
Reflecting on a Shared Journey
At a Hyderabad press conference, the actress spoke about her comeback and reflected on her journey, highlighting her strong bond with Telugu cinema and its biggest stars.
Genelia fondly recalled working with Jr. NTR, Ram Charan, and
Allu Arjun
during her early days in Tollywood. Reflecting on their growth, she shared her amazement after watching RRR, saying it was surreal to see how far her former co-stars—whom she considers friends—have come since they all started out together.
She also expressed pride in her former co-stars, calling their growth remarkable. She praised Jr. NTR for his exceptional talent, recalling how he had the ability to memorise and deliver lengthy dialogues flawlessly in just one take.
Genelia described Allu Arjun as full of energy and Ram Charan as someone with a natural flair for acting. She shared how proud she feels watching them evolve from young actors to successful superstars and fathers, having been a part of their early journeys in the industry.
A Career Built in the South
She shared the screen with Ram Charan in Orange (2010), Jr. NTR in Samba (2004) and Naa Alludu (2005), and Allu Arjun in Happy (2006). Reflecting on her journey, she credited the South Indian film industry as the foundation of her career.
Although the actress made her Bollywood debut with Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003, she credits the South Indian film industry for shaping her career. She recalled being advised against doing films like Satyam in favor of more glamorous roles like Boys, but chose to follow her instincts and take on stories that truly resonated with her.
The 'Newcomer' Perception in Bollywood
Interestingly, when Genelia returned to Hindi cinema with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na in 2008—after a six-year gap—many viewers assumed she was a newcomer. Amused by the perception, she often found herself reminding people that she had already done substantial work in the South before her Bollywood re-entry.
She is now gearing up for the theatrical release of Junior on July 18, 2025, marking her much-anticipated return to Telugu cinema. This comes on the heels of her recent appearance in
Aamir Khan
's Sitaare Zameen Par. She's also set to feature in the upcoming Hindi-Marathi historical drama Raja Shivaji.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
10 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Mahavatar Narsimha box office collection day 13: World-of-mouth sensation beats Son of Sardaar 2, Dhadak 2, and Saiyaara, earns Rs 112 crore
Mahavatar Narsimha box office collection day 13: Mahavatar Narsimha earned Rs 6 crore domestically as it completes two weeks in theatres. The film's day 13 collections were three times higher than Son of Sardaar 2's, and about five times higher than Dhadak 2's collection. These two new releases have also earned less than Ahaan Panday's holdover hit Saiyaara, which managed to earn Rs 2 crore, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. Mahavatar Narsimha, which is the first ever-project by Kleem Productions, became a sleeper hit. After opening at Rs 1.75 crore, the film's business grew thanks to solid word-of-mouth. With the numbers getting better with each passing day, Mahavatar Narsimha crossed the Rs 100 crore mark in India in just 12 days of release. On its 13th day, the film earned a total of Rs 6 crore, with its total India collection standing at Rs 112 crore. Despite it being a working day, the animated film, inspired by the legend of Narsimha, recorded and overall occupancy of 24.42% in Telugu 3D, 13.64% in Hindi 2D, 18.27% in Hindi 3D and 27.35% in Telugu 3D. Excluding the number of shows in the Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam languages, the film had a total of 3931 shows in Hindi and Telugu across India with 332 shows in Telugu 3D, 1725 shows in Hindi 3D, 1491 shows in Hindi 2D and 383 shows in Telugu 2D. The film has found a great audience in the Hindi speaking belt with majority of the collection coming from its Hindi version. ALSO READ | Mahavatar Narsimha movie review: Epic in scale, uneven in execution The Indian animated film has also crossed borders and reached countries like Germany, Netherlands, Norway, and France with multiple shows scheduled across Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah. It has also reached Oman and Bahrain. In India alone, it has sold over 3 million tickets in first 10 days on BookMyShow. Amid the success, there were rumours that the film will hit an OTT platform soon. However, the makers took to their official Instagram handle to clear the air. Ashwin Kumar, the director of the film and founder of Kleem Productions, shared a note. It read: 'We have been receiving a lot of buzz about Mahavatar Narsimha coming to OTT soon — but let us clarify: For now, our film is ONLY available in theatres across the whole wide world. We have not finalised any OTT platform yet. Please believe only authentic updates shared from our official handles.' The success of the film has also given rise to several memes with people drawing comparisons with Hollywood film Avatar. One of the meme reads: 'America — We have Avatar. India — We have MahaAvatar.' With no big releases scheduled for this weekend, films Mahavatar Narsimha and Saiyaara have another week to add to their collections. The films might get affected in the Independence weekend with two big films hitting the big screen: Hrithik Roshan's War 2 and Rajinikanth's Coolie. Meanwhile, Saiyaara has crossed Rs 300 crore mark.
Mint
18 minutes ago
- Mint
Mahavatar Narsimha Box Office Day 13: Mythological movie nears ₹150 crore globally; screening in Australia, NZ today
Mahavatar Narsimha Box Office Collection Day 13: Ashwin Kumar's mythological movie, made with an estimated budget of ₹ 15 crore, is now nearing a record-breaking ₹ 150 crore at the global box office. After a successful feat in North America, the Kannada movie is all set to screen in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, August 7, said the makers. 'The divine roar echoes across the world… #MahavatarNarsimha is arriving in Australia & New Zealand, igniting the screens from August 7th. Brace yourself for a divine cinematic experience,' Hombale Films said in a tweet. They also shared a list of the theatres screening it. The screening of Mahavatar Narsimha will also be improved in North America, with the introduction of shows at more locations from August 8, they shared. The movie has been released in multiple languages abroad – Kannada, Hindi, and Telugu. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Mahavatar Narsimha has collected ₹ 5.15 crore overseas through its limited screening abroad. The number is expected to improve significantly over the weekend, especially since the announcement of screening at more locations. This brings the movie's total worldwide collection to ₹ 132.25 crore; its India gross has been reported at ₹ 127.1 crore. Prathyangira Cinemas, Mahavatar Narsimha's screening partner in the US, said that the movie has reached a gross of $400K+ in North America. According to Sacnilk, Mahavatar Narsimha minted ₹ 6 crore at the Indian box office on Wednesday, August 6, thanks to the discounted prices. With this, its 13-day total stands at ₹ 112.80 crore, a staggering milestone for an Indian animated feature. In India, the Kannada movie has been released in several more languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. Film trade analyst Sumit Kadel hailed the movie's success as a turning point for India's animation industry. 'Mahavatar Narsimha… crossing the 100 crore mark is a historic moment for the Indian film industry. While many Hollywood animated films do a worldwide business of $1-2 billion, now in India, we too can create large-scale animated films like Mahavatar Narasimha,' he wrote in a tweet.
Hans India
41 minutes ago
- Hans India
Recalling the good old ‘musical days' makes for joyful moments
Though a connoisseur of English and Telugu literature, a distinguished jurist, a successful advocate and a highly respected judge, my father had no ear for music. But unlike Shakespeare's 'The man that has no music in himself. Nor is moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils', he was a kind-hearted, affectionate, and friendly person, much liked by friends and relatives. In 1966, as a post-graduate student in Osmania University, a few friends and I formed a group called 'Saaz Aur Awaaz' and occasionally performed variety entertainment programmes, comprising music, plays, skits, and such like. One afternoon, as our group was rehearsing for one of the events in the upstairs portion of our house, a friend of my father's, who had dropped in for a chat, asked him where I was. 'He and his friends are busy making what they call music', was his cryptic reply! It was my father, again, who remarked to another friend that I played the guitar with 'much greater enthusiasm than expertise!' I have tried my hand at various activities, including outdoor games like cricket, table tennis, and tennis, indoor games such as chess, draughts and carroms. On occasion, I have also flirted with musical instruments, such as the mouth organ and the guitar. I managed to attain reasonable levels of proficiency in nearly all of them, while failing to excel in any one of them. Somewhat similar was my affair with the art of singing, in which I became good enough to be heard without complaint, but nowhere near being able to perform to a discerning audience. The important thing, however, was that in all the activities, I was able to reach levels where I could appreciate the subtle nuances of the performance of talented experts, in games, or maestros, in vocal or instrumental music. My ability to enjoy and appreciate good performances gave me immense pleasure on several occasions. Watching cricket greats such as the legendary Ghulam Ahmed, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, both at Hyderabad and Delhi, was an unforgettable experience. And equally memorable were the occasions, when I had the honour and privilege, of being part of a small and select group of listeners, when such legends as Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, the Violin wizard Dwaram Venkata Swami Naidu, Veena maestro Eemanii Sankara Sastry and distinguished exponents of vocal music, such as Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, Pandit Jasraj, Mehdi Hassan and Ustad Zakir Hussain, displayed their masterly skills. The first tentative step I took in getting acquainted with the art of playing musical instruments was to learn to play on the harmonica or mouth organ. A friend of mine played it with such exquisite expertise that I brought for him a slide-button harmonica, or chromatic harmonica, which utilised a button– activated slide to change the pitch of the notes, a rare thing to possess those days. Years later, keen to realise one of my childhood dreams, I approached Richard Gnanakan, who was playing the guitar as part of a band in the popular Lido restaurant in Secunderabad, with the request that he teach me to play the guitar. He agreed although the terms were rather expensive, as the lessons came at ₹10 per session! It was much later that I also had a shot at testing my skill at playing the Mrudangam from the well-known maestro Yella Venkateswara Rao, a short-lived and halfhearted trial that soon fizzled out. Even in my school days, so intense was my interest in music that at 8 pm on the dot every Wednesday, I used to walk to a distant neighbour's house, to listen to the extremely popular 'Binaca Geet Mala', so wonderfully anchored by the legendary Ameen Sayani. By then the popular Vividh Bharathi, an entertainment radio channel of what was then the All India Radio Radio (AIR), was yet to be launched. One had to tune into Radio Ceylon for the commercial variety of entertainment, such as music and plays. Several extremely popular programmes were on offer at that time, such as 'Ek Aur Anek' in which one popular singer figured in each item while others changed, and 'Purane Filmon Ki Sangeet' featuring numbers from the films of yesteryear. Over time, our household graduated from only having a radio to acquiring a radiogram, one with a record changer to boot. Gramaphone records came at that time in three speeds, with different revolutions per minute-331/3, 45 and 78. I was soon to become the proud owner of my own radio set presented to me by my father on the eve of an important cricket match at Hyderabad. At a cost, no less, than the princely amount of ₹650! In my childhood, I had participated in group singing and enacting of plays in radio programmes as a member of the Andhra Balananda Sangham, in the AIR station at Chennai. In later years, I occasionally summoned the temerity and the guts to test the patience of audiences, albeit with some moderate success, such as singing some popular 'The Beatles' hits, along with my 'Saaz Aur Awaaz' colleagues in the AIR station at Hyderabad, giving full vent to my lung capacity, to the rather indulgent audience of my batchmates, at our annual get-togethers and participating in mass nostalgia in the golden jubilee get-together of the 1968 IAS batch, at Mussoorie some years ago. Some endearing moments I recall of the journey down memory lane, include listening to the popular Saturday night. 'A Date With You'' program as a college student at Delhi and, lest I forget, failing to qualify for the college music competitions, as a student at Hindu College, Delhi, and later consoling myself, that it was because I had chosen the wrong song! (The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)
