4 min readNew DelhiFeb 4, 2026 06:06 PM IST
Bollywood actors and couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia Deshmukh recently appeared on tennis star Sania Mirza’s podcast Serving with Sania. During the conversation, Sania asked Riteish an unexpected question: how did it feel to play her on screen? The question had the actor laughing as he recalled the moment.
Riteish had played Kishan in the 2006 comedy Apna Sapna Money Money, a conman who assumes multiple identities, including the female characters Sunaina and Sania.
When Riteish Deshmukh played Sania
Sania recalled when she met Riteish years ago, he told her, “I am playing you”. She couldn’t help but think, “I don’t look that manly!”
Riteish then remembered the sequence with veteran actor Anupam Kher. “There’s a scene where Anupam Kher asks, ‘Tumhara naam kya hai?’ and I reply, ‘Mera naam… mera naam…’ as the camera pans to your poster, and I say, ‘Sania,’” he said, laughing at the memory.
Riteish on playing a woman on screen
Riteish admitted playing a woman on screen came with its own set of challenges. “It was very difficult for two reasons. First, none of my contemporaries were attempting something like this at the time. Second, a man portraying a woman on screen is obviously not the most appealing sight. On top of that, my father was then the chief minister, so I was also thinking about how it would be received, given that he was a public figure. It made the role even more challenging.”
Getting waxed for the role
Riteish then revealed Genelia Deshmukh was his go-to for advice for the character . “I was constantly in touch with Genelia about what to do and what not to do. I even went a bit overboard – I did waxing and threading as part of method acting. It was the most painful experience, and my hair actually stopped growing for a while,” he joked. “But when you see audiences laughing in theatres, that’s the ultimate gratification. That’s what makes it all worth it.”
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Genelia praised her husband’s performance: “I don’t think anybody could have done it better than he did.”
Riteish’s first day on the set playing a woman
Riteish also shared how nervous he was on the first day of the shoot. “The first time I got ready, it took me 2–3 hours. As I walked from the van to the set, I kept my umbrella low because I didn’t know how to face anyone. Anupam Kher and Chunky Pandey were there and they made me feel so comfortable. That was the most nervous I’ve ever been on set,” he revealed.
He added, “Particularly in comedy films, while audiences watch the screen, we watch the audience. The laughter, the noise from the seats when audiences move as they laugh, that’s what tells you if a scene is working. Hearing that sound was such a thrill, it made all the pain and preparation worth it.”
Apna Sapna Money Money, the 2006 Bollywood comedy, follows a cast of characters on a madcap chase for wealth. The film stars Riteish Deshmukh alongside Suniel Shetty, Shreyas Talpade, Celina Jaitly, Koena Mitra, and Jackie Shroff.
