Genelia Deshmukh on acting comeback with Marathi film Ved: ‘Break gave me a new perspective’

Genelia Deshmukh spoke about coming back to acting after a long break. The actor can be seen in the Marathi film Ved, which is her husband, actor Riteish Deshmukh’s directorial debut. The romantic drama, which is a remake of 2019 Telugu film, Majili, has been doing extremely well at the box office. (Also read: Salman Khan and Riteish Deshmukh dance with glasses in their pockets in Marathi song Ved Lavlay. Watch)

The actor, who has been in the industry for two decades, had a breakthrough role with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na in 2008 opposite Imran Khan. She married Riteish on February 3, 2012 and slowed down on her acting career. The couple has two sons, Riaan, who was born in 2014, and Rahyl, who was born in 2016. She spoke about missing acting while she was away.

In an interview with Mid-Day, Genelia revealed that she had doubts about coming back. She shared how she had matured in the years past and said, “I wondered, ‘Will people like me? Will the audience even want to see me again? Have they moved on?’ But this break gave me a new perspective. [It made me understand] the roles I want to do. I cannot do an Aditi [from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na] today, but I can do a Shravani [her character in Ved]. That way, I can connect with the girl who grew up from Aditi to Shravani, with me.”

She made her acting debut as Genelia D’Souza with the 2003 Hindi film Tujhe Meri Kasam along with Riteish. Her last big projects were in 2012 with the Hindi film Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya and the Telugu film Naa Ishtam. She made cameo appearances in the Hindi films Jai Ho (2014) and Force 2 (2016) and the Marathi films Lai Bhaari (2014) and Mauli (2018) with Riteish. She also turned producer with Mauli. This year, she was also seen in the comedy Mister Mummy, directed by Shaad Ali, once again opposite Riteish.

She is also planning to return to the Telugu industry with an untitled film that introduces Karnataka’s former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy’s son Kireeti as lead actor. The bilingual film, in Telugu and Kannada, will be directed by Radha Krishna.