Genelia Deshmukh reveals she auditioned thrice for Sitaare Zameen Par, slams casting bias against married women

Genelia Deshmukh

Genelia Deshmukh will be seen playing the lead opposite Aamir Khan in the upcoming film Sitaare Zameen Par. This marks her return to a major Hindi film after quite some time. While the actress is active on social media, she blames the casting industry's bias against married women as one of the reasons she hasn't done more roles in recent years. She revealed that she had to audition three times to bag the role in Sitaare Zameen Par. However, she shared that she didn't mind auditioning, as she wanted to portray a layered character like Sunita, her role in the film.

Genelia Deshmukh on casting bias

Speaking to Filmymantra ahead of the film's release, Genelia said, "When people got to know I'm doing Sitaare Zameen Par, everybody said, ‘Oh my god! So lucky! You're doing an Aamir Khan film!' I said of course, that's Aamir sir's greatness - that he saw something in me. Of course, he made me audition. But you could also do that, right? You could also offer me a role."

However, she pointed out that she rarely gets to play such nuanced characters on screen. Addressing the casting mindset towards married women, she said,
"You go by norms. Maybe you think I'm married, so I don't need this character. I just feel filmmaking has changed, and so should our mentality. It's very important that if you want a character of a certain age, you should cast someone of that age. When you cast someone much younger in that role, they may not grasp the little things. It's important to cast correctly. And I hope opportunities go everyone's way."

Genelia on collaborating with Aamir Khan

Speaking about the film and working with Aamir, Genelia said,"Collaborating with Aamir Khan Productions after all these years feels incredibly special. This role is unlike anything I've done before! It's emotional, layered, and deeply human. I'm truly grateful for the love the trailer has received, and I can't wait for audiences to experience the film."

In Sitaare Zameen Par, Genelia plays a brief yet impactful role as Aamir Khan's love interest. The project marks a nostalgic full-circle moment for her, as she previously won hearts with her role as Aditi in Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008), also backed by Aamir Khan Productions.

Apart from Aamir and Genelia, the film features ten debutant actors: Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali, Ashish Pendse, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, Naman Mishra, and Simran Mangeshkar.

Sitaare Zameen Par, marking Aamir Khan's return to the silver screen after Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), is slated for release on June 20.