Settu Shankar / XML

Chennai, Apr 19: Genelia has already done 3 mega budget films in Tamil and all of them became a big disaster at the box-office. As usual, the film pundits stamped her as unlucky, and this has kept her away from Kollywood.

But her luck is working out well in Tollywood. Film critics have given accolades on her performance in Bommarilu, and now she has a handful of films in Telugu.

Now there is a chance for this young artiste to test her luck in Tamil cinema again. This time, Gowtham Menon has given her the opportunity to play the lead role against Surya in Vaaranam Ayiram. After signing the contract, Genelia told us, 'I'm so excited about acting with Surya, one of my favourite heroes in Tamil. I hope this film will break all odds against me in Tamil cinema'.

Meanwhile, Gowtham has changed his name as Gowtham Vasudeva Menon for this film. When I asked him about this change he told me, 'there is nothing special about this name change. I just feel good in using my name with my father's full initials. That's all. There are no numerology factors behind this change. It is not true that I have decided to change my name after the box office debacle of Pachaikili Muthucharam. The fact is that the film is doing good business in B centers too, and I will join hands with Sarath again after some time…'

According to the director, the film Vaaranam Aayiram will be shot at breathtaking locations in Afganistan, Russia, US and most of the South East Asian countries.

More on Genelia

After being born in England, Genelia studied at Apostolic Carmel High School in Bandra, Mumbai. After school, she joined the St Andrews College, Bandra to pursue a Bachelor's Degree. Mumbai-based Genelia starred in the big budgeted Boys by top director Shankar. She starred opposite fellow débutante Siddharth. The film was a box-office hit and launched her career.

She left Kollywood for a while to concentrate on the Tollywood industry, starring in other successful films including, Satyam, Masti, Samba and Sye. She followed it up with a pairing with popular actress Shriya in Subhash Chandra Bose. She returned to the Tamil industry with the hit, Sachein with Vijay. Her film, Happy opposite Allu Arjun was a hit. Her most recent film, Bommarillu, with Siddharth Narayan, is a super hit. Chennai Kadhal, her Tamil project did average business. She was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai. She has also been a part of many TV ad campaigns, the most famous ones being for Fair and Lovely, Cricket World Cup 2003 with Kris Shrikanth and Parker pens with Amitabh Bachchan.