Genelia D'souza and Riteish Deshmukh are basking in the glory of the success of their recent collaboration, ‘Ved’. The film, which is getting a positive response at the box office, marks his debut directorial and Genelia’s maiden Marathi venture. The couple has also produced and promoted the film together.
However, when Genelia decided to take a break from acting after marriage, everyone believed that it was Riteish, son of late Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, who made her quit films. In a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, Genelia has now clarified that the couple, who have been married for 10 years and have two kids together, actually share a very different equation than one assumed.
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“Riteish and I, where we are in our relationship or where we always have been in our relationship, it’s a very respectful place. Like his work is totally respected and so is mine,” Genelia said, adding, “When I gave up films, when I took a break after marriage, people would be like, ‘because she is married to Riteish Deshmukh, he must have told her not to’. But the reason for me to be back today is him. He was like, ‘you are good at your craft, why are you sitting at home’. Even if it wasn’t his film, he kept pushing me to say ‘do your work and this is what you know’.”
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She also revealed that it was her idea that Riteish enters direction with ‘Ved’. “With Riteish, I was the first person who told him, ‘do you want to direct?’. When you bring out the best in someone, you become that kind of support to each other and it’s very, very important to respect that space.”
For those caught unaware, the film is now the second highest grossing Marathi film after ‘Sairat’ with a box office collection of Rs 44.92 crore.
Genelia further mentioned that both of them respected each other’s commitments to the film as a director and producer. “If I tell Riteish that I cannot give you three days, he has to respect me as a producer. Similarly, if he tells me that I need three days for this scene, because as a director, he feels that this is important, I have to respect that,” she said.
She also revealed that Riteish did not want to give out inflated box office collections. “Riteish was very clear that when the figures come, we will give them as they are. So, there will not be a point of inflation because if I am speaking a language that I don’t like, you know when I hear people inflating , I need to stick by my gut and do it. So, whatever collections we are getting as a company, we will put it out as it is. That is a sense of high at some level. It is very easy to say that ‘are let's put it a little more to make it sound better’. As a production house, we are content with what we have and we are proud of that,” Genelia signed off.
