Born in Mumbai Genelia is an East Indian, a Marathi speaking Christian from North Konkan. She was raised in the Bandra suburb of Mumbai. Her mother Jeanette D'Souza was a managing director of the Pharma Multinational corporation. She left her job in 2004 to help Genelia with her career.
Debut and recognition (2003-05)
When Genelia was offered a role in Tujhe Meri Kasam, initially she turned it down, as she was not keen to pursue a career in acting. But the crew insisted and kept contacting her for two months, and she agreed when she saw the Telugu version of the movie. Tamil director, S. Shankar, was impressed with her performance in the Parker Pen commercial and decided to cast her in a leading role in his 2003 Tamil film Boys. Genelia was selected among 300 girls, who had auditioned for the movie. She signed three movies simultaneously in three different languages, Tujhe Meri Kasam (Hindi), Boys (Tamil), and Satyam (Telugu).  Genelia's professional movie career began, with her Bollywood debut Tujhe Meri Kasam in 2003. Film critic Taran Adarsh noted, "Genelia is a wonderful performer. She catches you unaware with a performance that's natural to the core." The film was a box-office success. However, it could not do much to propel her career in Bollywood. Later, she decided to act in South Indian films. The same year, she made her Tamil debut as the teenage girl Harini in Boys, a story about five teenagers having stereotypical teen-boy fantasies. The movie, though noted for its vulgar sexual content, was a box-office success, and subsequently she started receiving Telugu film offers. She left Tamil cinema for a while to concentrate on the Telugu film industry. She made her Telugu debut in 2003 as a medical student in Satyam. Sify noted in their review that, "Genelia is excellent as her body language is her major asset." The movie was well received, and it raised her profile in the Telugu film industry.  In 2004, Genelia appeared in her second Bollywood movie, Masti. The comedy focuses on three close friends who reunite after three years, but are now married and are being harassed by their wives. Genelia portrayed the character of one of the wives. Taran Adarsh was complimentary of Genelia's role, saying, "Amongst the wives, Genelia is the best, [...] Genelia looks the stern and demanding wife and is sure to be noticed." The film was a box-office success. The same year, she appeared in two Telugu movies Samba, and Sye, both succeeding at the box-office.  After appearing in her first Telugu movie in 2005, Naa Alludu, she starred in the Tamil romantic entertainer Sachein. A review in The Hindu noted, "Genelia, who hardly made an impression in Boys, makes much impact in Sachein." The movie evoked mixed response from audiences, but was well received with the younger generation. She later appeared in the Telugu patriotic movie Subhash Chandra Bose.

Q: What was Genelia debut film?
A: When Genelia was offered a role in Tujhe Meri Kasam,

Q: What was the name of her character in that film?
A: decided to cast her in a leading role in his 2003 Tamil film Boys.

Q: Who decided to cast her in this leading role in 2003?
A: Tamil director, S. Shankar,
Did she have any other roles in 2003?
She made her Telugu debut in 2003 as a medical student in Satyam.
She made her Telugu debut in 2003 as a medical student in Satyam.