Ileana D`Cruz is an Indian film actress, appears in many Telugu and Hindi films, won the Film Fare 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 Telugu cinema leading actresses. Ileana D`Cruz made her Kollywood debut with Kedi and made a comeback in Shankar`s Nanban (2012). 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 Awards for Best Female Debut.
Early Life of Ileana D`Cruz
Ileana D`Cruz was born on 1st November 1987. Ileana D`Cruz was born in Mumbai, and was brought up partly in Mumbai and partly in Goa. Her first name comes from Greek mythology, meaning Helen of Troy. Her family relocated to Parra, Goa when she was 10 years old. Her mother tongue is Konkani language.
Career of Ileana D`Cruz
In 2005, Ileana D`Cruz was called for an audition by director Teja, but the project was cancelled. 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. Ileana D`Cruz made her Tamil-language film debut in Kedi (2006). Although the film did not do so well at the box-office, D`Cruz remained too busy to accept all the film roles offered to her. 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.
She subsequently experienced a setback in her career as her following releases Rakhi (2006) and Munna (2007) proved critically and financially successful. Ileana 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. Her next release was Nenu Naa Rakshasi, which marked her second collaboration with Puri Jagannadh. 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. 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. She then starred in Puri Jagannadh`s comedy Devudu Chesina Manushulu. In this film she played the role of a taxi driver. The film received mixed reviews and eventually under-performed at the box office.
Bollywood Career of Ileana D`Cruz
Ileana D`Cruz made her Hindi debut with Anurag Basu`s Barfi! 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. She next appeared in the Rajkumar Santoshi"s action comedy film Phata Poster Nikhla Hero opposite Shahid Kapoor. Her first release of 2014 was Main Tera Hero alongside Varun Dhawan and Nargis Fakhri, produced by Balaji Motion Pictures. The film was a semi hit. She then appeared in Saif Ali Khan`s maiden production Happy Ending where she played lead along Saif Ali Khan, Govinda and Kalki Koechlin which released on November 21, 2014. The film met with negative reviews and was a box office flop.
After taking a time off, in February 2016 she started Akshay Kumar`s Rustom which was released in August 2016. Beginning of March 2017, she has completed her part of filming in Milan Luthria`s "Baadshaho" starring opposite Ajay Devgn and is now filming for Anees Bazmee`s "Mubarakan" starring opposite Arjun Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. She has been seen in Atif Aslam"s music video Pehli Dafa also.
Awards and Recognitions of Ileana D`Cruz
•Filmfare Awards South for Devadasu
•Santosham Film Awards for Jalsa
•South Scope Style Awards for Jalsa
•Vogue Beauty Awards for Fresh Face
•ETC Bollywood Business Awards for Barfi
•Filmfare Award for best debut for Barfi
•Screen Awards for most promising newcomer for Barfi
•Zee Cine Awards for best debut for Barfi
•Star Guild Awards for best debut for Barfi
Social Life of Ileana D`Cruz
In 2014, Ileana D`Cruz posed backless for PETA`s anti-fur campaign.
