Ileana D'Cruz


Ileana D'Cruz is an Indian actress who appears mainly in Telugu and Hindi films.
D'Cruz won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South for the 2006 Telugu film Devadasu. She established herself in Telugu cinema with films including Pokiri, Jalsa, Kick and Julayi. In Tamil cinema, D'Cruz has starred in Kedi and Shankar's Nanban.
In 2012, D'Cruz made her Hindi film debut with Anurag Basu's Barfi!. She then starred in Main Tera Hero, Rustom, and Raid.

Personal life

D'Cruz was born into a Goan Catholic family in Mahim, Mumbai and was raised partly in Mumbai and partly in Goa. Her family relocated to Parra, Goa when she was 10 years old. Her mother tongue is Konkani.
During that time, the manager of the hotel her mother was working in, suggested that she had 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 & Lovely. The latter, in particular, which was directed by Rakesh Roshan, gave her exposure and brought in several offers for acting in feature films.
She was in a relationship with Andrew Kneebone, an Australian photographer. It was rumored that they both had already been married. On 28 August 2019, Indian media aired the news that the couple have broken up.

Career

2005–2006

In 2005, D'Cruz was called for an audition by director Teja, but the project was cancelled. She made her feature film debut in the Telugu language romance film Devadasu, 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." A review from Indiaglitz stated that she "has chiseled features and a figure to die-for." Devadasu became the year's first major commercial success, eventually grossing around 140 million, whilst earning D'Cruz the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debutant. She next appeared in the gangster film Pokiri in which she portrayed an aerobics teacher, who is harassed by a corrupt police officer. The film was a high financial success, emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time.
She made her Tamil-language film debut in Kedi. 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 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 breakthrough in her career as her following releases Rakhi and Munna proved critically and financially successful.

2007–2011

D'Cruz appeared in the 2007 film Aata. She received favourable 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. 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", "damn cool", and "every bit chic and stunning throughout the film", while being later awarded the Santosham Award, one of five awards for Jalsa, 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, becoming one of the highest-grossing films that year.
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.
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 ,. 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", 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." Despite her recent failures, D'Cruz continued to be the highest-paid actress in South India.

2012–2013

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.
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. The movie released on 14 September 2012, to highly positive reviews from critics, and was a major commercial success, earning worldwide. 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". Rajeev Masand stated "Ileana leaves a lasting impression in her Hindi film debut, conveying both love and pain through those beautiful, expressive eyes". The film was screened at the Busan International Film Festival, Marrakech International Film Festival and was chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars for the 85th Academy Awards.
She next appeared in the Rajkumar Santoshi action comedy film Phata Poster Nikhla Hero opposite Shahid Kapoor. The film released on 20 September 2013 to mixed reviews, and the film was eventually declared a poor grosser at the box office. However, D'Cruz received mixed reviews for her performance, with the Times of India saying that she was "good with emotions but not so tuned into comedy yet."

2014–2017

In April 2014 she gave a photo shoot for India's well known magazine Man’s World. 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 21 November 2014. The film met with negative reviews and was commercially unsuccessful.
After taking a sabbatical, in February 2016 she started Akshay Kumar Rustom which released in August 2016. The film emerged as one of the highest Indian grossing films of 2016.
In 2017, her films Mubarakan starring opposite Arjun Kapoor and Anil Kapoor and Baadshaho starring opposite Ajay Devgn both failed to find an audience at the box office.

2018–present

D'Cruz's first release of 2018 Raid, opened to positive critical and commercial feedback. After six years hiatus, she signed a Telugu film Amar Akbar Anthony starring opposite her frequent co-star Ravi Teja.The film opened with negative reviews and failed at the box office.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleDirectorLanguageNotes
2006DevadasuBhanuY. V. S. ChowdaryTelugu
2006PokiriShrutiPuri JagannadhTelugu
2006KediAarthiJyothi KrishnaTamil
2006KhatarnakNakshatraAmma RajasekharTelugu
2006RakhiTripuraKrishna VamsiTelugu
2007MunnaNidhiVamsi PaidipallyTelugu
2007AataSathyaV. N. AdityaTelugu
2008JalsaBhagyamathi/BhagiTrivikram SrinivasTelugu
2008Bhale DongaluJyothiK. Vijaya BhaskarTelugu
2009KickNainaSurender ReddyTelugu
2009RechipoKrishna VeniParachuri MuraliTelugu
2009SaleemSatyavathiY. V. S. ChowdaryTelugu
2010Huduga HudugiHerselfIndrajit LankeshKannadaCameo appearance
2011ShaktiAishwaryaMeher RameshTelugu
2011Nenu Naa RakshasiMeenakshi/ShravyaPuri JagannadhTelugu
2012NanbanRia SanthanamShankarTamil
2012JulaiMadhuTrivikram SrinivasTelugu
2012Devudu Chesina ManushuluIleanaPuri JagannadhTelugu
2012Barfi!Shruti Ghosh SenguptaAnurag BasuHindi
2013Phata Poster Nikhla HeroKajalRajkumar SantoshiHindi
2014Main Tera HeroSunainaDavid DhawanHindi
2014Happy EndingAanchal ReddyRaj & DKHindi
2016RustomCynthia PavriTinu Suresh DesaiHindi
2017MubarakanSweety / Supreet GillAnees BazmeeHindi
2017BaadshahoRani Gitanjali DeviMilan LuthriaHindi
2018RaidMalini PatnaikRaj Kumar GuptaHindi
2018Amar Akbar AnthonyAishwarya/Pooja/TeresaSrinu VaitlaTelugu
2019PagalpantiSanjanaAnees BazmeeHindi
2020The Big Bull ''TBAKookie GulatiHindiFilming

;Music videos
TitleYearRolePerformerAlbum
"Pehli Dafa"2017Atif Aslam

Awards and nominations