Ileana D'Cruz

Ileana D'Cruz
Ileana D'Cruz at the 58th Filmfare Awards, January 2013
Born	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Residence	Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	2006–present

Ileana D'Cruz is an Indian film actress, who predominantly appears in Telugu movies. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South for the 2006 Telugu film Devadasu. She has appeared in films like Pokiri (2006), Jalsa (2008), Kick (2009), and Julayi (2012), establishing herself as one of Tollywood's leading actresses.^[1] D'Cruz made her Kollywood debut with Kedi and made a comeback in Shankar's Nanban (2012).^[2] In 2012, she made her Bollywood debut with Anurag Basu's critically and commercially successful Barfi!, for which she received critical appreciation and the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.^[3]

Early life

She was born in Mumbai and has three siblings — older sister Farrah, younger brother Rhys and youngest sister Eileen.^[4] Her first name comes from Greek mythology, meaning Helen of Troy.^[5][6] Her family relocated to Parra, Goa when she was 10 years old.^[7][8] Her mother tongue is Konkani.^[9][10] She is Catholic.^[8]

During that time, the manager of the hotel her mother was working in, suggested that she has a beautiful face with a vibrant smile and should start modelling and fixed a meeting with Marc Robinson. Though initially reluctant, she was persuaded and her first portfolio was created in January 2003, which she described as a "disaster". She began gaining notice through photo shoots and ramp shows and her second portfolio was set up the following year, which landed her three advertisements from Electrolux, Emami Talc and Fair and Lovely. The latter, in particular, which was directed by Rakesh Roshan, gave her exposure and brought in several offers for acting in feature films.^[10][11]

Career

2005–2007

In 2005, D'Cruz was called for an audition by director Teja, but the project was cancelled.^[10] She instead made her feature film debut in the Telugu language romance film Devadasu (2006), directed by Y. V. S. Chowdhary. She underwent acting classes with Aruna Bhikshu, before starting to work on the film. She recalls that during filming she felt "pressured [...] almost cried and didn't want to go further", but went ahead after her mother encouraged her, giving her "the lecture of a lifetime [...] at 3 am."^[12] A review from Indiaglitz stated that she "has chiseled features and a figure to die-for."^[13] Devadasu became the year's first major commercial success, eventually grossing around 140 million,^[14] whilst earning D'Cruz the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debutant.^[15] She next appeared in the gangster film Pokiri in which she portrayed an aerobics teacher, who is harassed by a corrupt police officer.^[16] The film was a high financial success, emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time.^[17][18]

She made her Tamil-language film debut in Kedi (2006). Although the film did not do so well at the box-office,^[18] D'Cruz remained too busy to accept all the film roles offered to her.^[19] Her Telugu film Khatarnak (2006) in which she acted opposite Ravi Teja did not do as well as expected, which has been attributed to her glamorous appearance not going down well with the audience.^[18] She subsequently experienced a setback in her career as her following releases Rakhi (2006) and Munna (2007) proved critically and financially successful.^[18]

2007–2011

D'Cruz's career took a turn for the better with the release of her well-received 2007 film Aata.^[18] She received favorable reviews for her performance as Satya, a college student who is on the run from the home minister's crooked son by whom she is targeted, when leading a protest and demanding punishment for his crimes.^[20] In 2008, she performed the female lead role in the action film Jalsa, directed by Trivikram Srinivas. D'Cruz received largely positive remarks, with critics citing that she looked "pretty",^[21] "damn cool",^[22] and "every bit chic and stunning throughout the film",^[23] while being later awarded the Santosham Award, one of five awards for Jalsa,^[24] and the South Scope Style Award, besides garnering a nomination for the Best Actress prize at the 56th Filmfare Awards South. Her first 2009 release, titled Kick, was likewise declared a box office success,^[25][26] becoming one of the highest-grossing films that year.^[27]

Later that year she starred in the films Rechipo and Y. V. S. Choudary's Saleem both of which performed poorly at the box office.^[28]

D'Cruz had 2 releases in 2011. Her first film that year was Shakti, where she essayed the lead female role. She gave a stage performance for this movie's audio release function along with Jr. NTR, as part as promotion of the film. The socio-fantasy film, the costliest Telugu film ever made at 250,000,000,.^[29] Her next release was Nenu Naa Rakshasi, which marked her second collaboration with Puri Jagannadh. Though the film was a failure, her performance was received positively by critics; an Indiaglitz reviewer described her as a "pleasant surprise in the film" as she "cried, smirked, looked hot, grabbed sympathy and made faces that were apt to the scenes",^[30] while cinegoer's reviewer cited that the film had "one bright spot, Ileana, she looks stunning and also like an accomplished senior to the hero."^[31] Despite her recent failures, D'Cruz continued to be the highest paid actress in South India.^[32][33]

2012–present

In early 2012, she starred in the Kollywood film Nanban, a remake of the 2009 Hindi film 3 Idiots directed by S. Shankar. The film opened to critical acclaim and became a major financial success.^[2] Her next release was the Telugu film Julai. The film opened to positive reviews and became the third biggest hit in 2012 and biggest hit in Telugu.^[34] She then starred in Puri Jagannadh's comedy Devudu Chesina Manushulu. In this film she played the role of a taxi driver.^[35] The film received mixed reviews and eventually under-performed at the box office.^[36]

D'Cruz made her Hindi debut with Anurag Basu's Barfi!^[37] In addition to playing the role of the narrator, she portrayed the character of Shruti Ghosh, a girl who leaves her true love for material comforts. The movie released on 14 September 2012,^[38] to highly positive reviews from critics,^[39] and was a major commercial success, earning 1.75 billion (US$28 million) worldwide.^[40] D'Cruz's performance was well received, earning her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, as well as a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Rachit Gupta from Filmfare said "This is Ileana’s first film but her fantastic performance is just a testament why the Telugu audience consider her a superstar. Of course it also helps that she is the most visually appealing in Barfi! out shining even the scenic hills of Darjeeling".^[41] Rajeev Masand stated "Ileana leaves a lasting impression in her Hindi film debut, conveying both love and pain through those beautiful, expressive eyes".^[42] The film was screened at the Busan International Film Festival,^[43] Marrakech International Film Festival^[44] and was chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars for the 85th Academy Awards.^[45]

Upcoming projects

She worked in a Hindi film called Phata Poster Nikhla Hero, which released on September 20, 2013,and garnered her positive reviews. Her other projects include Main Tera Hero opposite Varun Dhawan and Happy Ending a film opposite actor Saif Ali Khan.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ileana Dcruz.

• Ileana D'Cruz at the Internet Movie Database