Genelia D'Souza

 ( Living People ) 

Following the success of Bommarillu, D'Souza played the role of the daughter of a local don, in the Tamil gangster film Chennai Kadhal alongside Boys co-star Bharath. Sriram Iyer from Rediff.com criticised her commenting: "D'Souza stands up yet again to prove the point that if you are pretty and well dressed, you can get away with anything, without acting." Shortly afterward, she played the role of the sister of a notorious gangster in the blockbuster Telugu film Dhee alongside Vishnu Manchu, set against a gang war backdrop. Jeevi of Idlebrain.com was appreciative of her portrayal and contribute to the film. She earned her second Filmfare Best Actress – Telugu nomination for the film.

The following year, D'Souza appeared in the Telugu romantic thriller Mr. Medhavi with Raja, in which she portrayed the role of a student from Canada. The film was successful, with Radhika Rajamani complimenting her performance saying, "D'Souza is her effervescent self – full of joie–de–vivre and lights up the screen." She made her Kannada cinema debut in Satya in Love the same year opposite Shiva Rajkumar, which was a box-office success. Later, she was cast in a leading role in Santosh Subramaniam opposite Jayam Ravi, a Tamil remake of Bommarillu. The film turned out to be successful just like its predecessor. Sify described D'Souza's portrayal as "the soul of the film" and the film's "biggest strength", however Rediff.coms Pavithra Srinivasan described her character as "appears a little too good to be true." She received Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil nomination for her performance.

In June 2008, following a nearly 5–year gap from Hindi cinema, she appeared in Mere Baap Pehle Aap alongside Akshaye Khanna, which failed to make profit at the box office. Sukanya Verma noted, "besides her apparent cuteness, brings in tons of freshness and traits to the youthful characters she chooses to play", while Sonia Chopra criticised her stating, "D'Souza is sprightly but has a standard two–three expressions bank in this film." She later appeared in the Telugu romantic comedy Ready opposite Ram Pothineni, playing an NRI girl. The film was well received and became one of the highest grossing Telugu fim of 2008. Radhika Rajamani opined that D'Souza "lights up the screen" with her performance. A critic from Sify was appreciative of her "vibrant" performance.

That year, her breakthrough performance came with the blockbuster romantic comedy-drama Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, in which she portrayed the central character of a college student, Aditi opposite Imran Khan. It was a major commercial success across India and overseas, grossing . Her role was widely admired for her sweetness and freshness, with Raja Sen describing her acting as a "spark that has been missing in Hindi cinema for well over a decade now". While, Khalid Mohamed of Hindustan Times found her to be "consistently spontaneous". Her performance earned her several nominations including Screen Award for Best Actress and Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow – Female.

In 2009, D'Souza appeared in the Telugu romantic comedy Sasirekha Parinayam alongside Tarun. The film received favourable reviews, with critics calling her "the life of the film" and praising her portrayal of emotions. She also received CineMAA Awards nomination. D'Souza then appeared opposite Fardeen Khan in the Hindi film Life Partner a box office average, where Rajeev Masand noted: "The adorable little imp from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na has turned into a nagging harridan in this film, and how you wish she'd immediately enroll for acting lessons." Her next appearance was in the Telugu thriller Katha with Adith Arun, which was well received, and for which she won another Nandi Special Jury Award. A critic from Rediff.com noted, "Genelia steals the show with her tremendous screen presence. She is able to portray the 'psychological' trauma well and is really emerging as a fine actor to portray complex characters."

In 2010, D'Souza first played a choreographer opposite Shahid Kapoor in Chance Pe Dance, which received poor reviews from critics. Rajeev Masand criticised her "half-baked role". D'Souza then played a college student who believes in true love in the Telugu film Orange opposite Ram Charan, which too received poor reviews from critics, but a critic from Rediff.com praised her portrayal and chemistry with Charan. In her final film of the year, she appeared in the Tamil film Uthama Puthiran opposite Dhanush, a remake of her film Ready. The film became a moderate success. A critic from The Times of India found her getting "stereotyped" in a similar role of a bubbly girl.

In 2012, D'Souza first reunited with Deshmukh in the Hindi film Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya. A critic from NDTV stated that she delivers an "energetic performance" as Mini. It became a box office success. Later that year, she appeared opposite Rana Daggubati in the Telugu film, Naa Ishtam, which was a moderate success. In its review, The Times of India stated the she performs her role with "panache". Following Naa Ishtam, D'Souza took a break from full-time acting and appeared only in cameo roles in films such as the Hindi film, Jai Ho and the Marathi film, Lai Bhaari both in 2014. D'Souza with her husband Riteish Deshmukh started their production company, Mumbai Film Company and became a producer with Lai Bhaari. In 2016, she reprised her role in Force 2, a sequel of Force, appearing as the ghost of Maya.

In 2018, she co-produced the Marathi film Mauli, where she also appeared in a song. In 2020, her much delayed Hindi remake of Bommarillu, It's My Life was released directly on Zee Cinema, where she appeared opposite Harman Baweja.

In her first release of 2025, Deshmukh played a basketball coach's wife opposite Aamir Khan in Sitaare Zameen Par. Devesh Sharma of Filmfare noted, "Genelia brings tenderness and restraint to her role as Gulshan’s wife, but her character needed more dimension." A commercial success, the film emerged as one of the highest grossing release of the year. Following this, Deshmukh returned to Telugu and Kannada films with the bilingual film Junior, where she played a corporate boss. Sangeeta Devi Dundoo opined that tasked with emotional heft Genelia "brings maturity and restraint", despite being constrained by the plot.

Deshmukh will next star in her co-production Raja Shivaji, in Gunmaster G9 opposite Emraan Hashmi and in Police Station Mein Bhoot opposite Manoj Bajpayee.