Ileana D'Cruz (born 1 November
1987) is an Indian film actress, who predominantly appears in Telugu cinema.
Starting her career as a model, she made her feature film debut in Y. V. S.
Chowdhary's 2006 Telugu film Devadasu, for which she won the Filmfare Award for
Best Female Debut – South.
She then went on to appear in
blockbusters like Pokiri (2006), Jalsa (2008), Kick (2009), and Julayi (2012),
establishing herself as one of Tollywood's leading actresses.[3] D'Cruz made
her Kollywood debut earlier in 2006 with Kedi and made a comeback in
Shankar'sNanban (2012).In 2012, she made her Bollywood debut with Anurag Basu's
critically and commercially successful Barfi!, for which she received critical
appreciation and theFilmfare Best Female Debut Award.
Early life
D'Cruz was born in Mumbai,
Maharashtra as the second child to Ronald D'Cruz and Samira. She has three
siblings — older sister Farrah, younger brother Rhys and youngest sister
Eileen. Her first name comes from Greek mythology, meaning Helen of Troy.[1][8]
While growing up, she lived in Goa for about seven years.
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.
Career
Debut & breakthrough
(2005-2007)
In 2005, 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. 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." Upon release, critics were
in praise of Ileana, particularly referring to her physique and looks; Jeevi of
Idlebrain wrote that Ileana "makes a cool debut. She is good at
histrionics and has a fabulous body any woman would love to possess. She has
great legs and nice physique", while a review from Indiaglitz noted that
she "has chiseled features and a figure to die-for." Devadasu, which
also marked its lead actor Ram's acting debut, became the year's first major
commercial success, eventually grossing around
14 crores, whilst earning Ileana theFilmfare Award for Best Female
Debutant. She next appeared opposite Mahesh Babu in the gangster film Pokiri in
which she portrayed an aerobics teacher, who is harassed by a corrupt police
officer. The film was a huge financial success, emerging as the
highest-grossing Telugu film at the time.
She 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)
opposite NTR Jr. andPrabhas respectively proved critically and financially
successful.
Success in
Tollywood (2007-2011)
D'Cruz's career took a turn
for the better with the release of her well-received 2007 film Aata, opposite
Siddharth. 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. Idlebrain described her as "gorgeous" and a "treat to
watch to the eyes". In 2008, she performed the female lead role opposite
Pawan Kalyan in the action film Jalsa, directed byTrivikram Srinivas. In spite
of opening to mixed reviews, the film turned out to become a financial success.
Ileana 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, opposite Ravi Teja for the second time in her
career, 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 alongside Vishnu Manchu, 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
opposite Jr. NTR, with whom she worked earlier in Rakhi. 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 45,00,00,000, was panned
by critics and became a commercial failure. Her next release was Nenu Naa
Rakshasi, which marked her second collaboration with Puri Jagannadh, following
the success of Pokiri. 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.
Return to
Kollywood and Bollywood foray (2012-present)
In early 2012, she marked a
successful comeback to Kollywood with S. Shankar's Nanban opposite Vijay. A
remake of the hugely successful and acclaimed 2009 Hindi film 3 Idiots, Ileana,
in her second Tamil film, essayed the character originally played by Kareena
Kapoor. The film likewise opened to critical acclaim and became a major
financial success.[4] Her next release was the Telugu filmJulai opposite Allu
Arjun. The film opened to positive reviews and became the third biggest hit in
2012 and Ileana's biggest hit in Telugu. She then starred in Puri Jagannadh's
comedy Devudu Chesina Manushulu alongside Ravi Teja for the third time in her
career. It was also the third time she starred in a Puri Jagannadh film. 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!, alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. (Although
she played a small role in Sarfarosh as child actress) 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 175 crore
(US$31.85 million) 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 notes "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 adds "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.
D'Cruz is currently filming
for her second Hindi film, Phata Poster Nikla Hero opposite Shahid Kapoor,
which is expected to be released in 2013.
0 comments:
Post a Comment