Up Close And Personal With Ileana D’Cruz
Ileana never wanted to be an actress, acting just happened to her – “It chose me, I didn’t choose it.”
Regarding her journey so far, she doesn’t know what to say. “It’s simply because I have just been doing one thing after the other. I am very lucky so far.” She believes it’s the film Barfi that helped her the most initially. “It got me recognition and respect.”
On her working experience with her male co-stars, she says Ranbir is a charmer. “There was very little scope of conversation with Ranbir when we were shooting for Barfi. We hardly talked, but he is extremely sweet. Shahid takes a little time to open up. But he is very easy to work with as well. Shahid and I had most of our scenes with Padmini ji in the film and even there, the conversation bit was on the down low. Working with Varun was different. We all had a ball together. I had a great time working with him. He is so inspiring. While working with Saif Ali Khan it didn’t feel like I was working. Saif is a true gentleman.” Ileana even got to know Kareena Kapoor Khan, who was visiting Saif on the sets. “Saif and Kareena are so warm and grounded.” Apparently she has praises for all her co-stars. “I enjoyed working with all of them.” Two of her films have had female co-stars. Speaking of her equation with her female co-stars Priyanka Chopra and Nargis Fakhri, Ileana was comfortable with both of them, “Priyanka Chopra is
the biggest workaholic you can meet! Nargis and I are very similar.”
On her list of favourite Bollywood films is 3 Idiots (2009) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) is her all time favourite as it had Kajol in it. (Ileana loves all of Kajol’s films.)
When it comes to her love life, she’s not one to talk about her personal life to anyone. “My personal life is my business and the business of the people who are close to me,” she emphasises. “Right now, it’s going to be just work, work and work.” And on being asked if marriage is on the cards, she replies immediately, “As of now, no. Right now, I am focussing on my career.”
When asked what her priority would be – a good director or a good script, she says that she needs to work with the right people and so far she has been very lucky. “I need to really like a script. But a good director is also very important.”
Known in tinsel town for her beautiful slim body, there are many people who want to know how Ileana stays so slim. However she is not one who starves herself to be in shape. When it comes to food, she loves eating, but she has four to five small meals a day. She loves eating simple meals with lots of protein and pulses in them, as well as fruits and vegetables. “If I am craving for something, I’ll have it. But I make sure I don’t overdo it,” she reveals. She also has cravings for rasagullas, rasmalai and dark chocolate. “I eat well and drink lots of water. I think water really is a miracle worker. So, drink as much as you can every day.”
Being naturally slim, she does not have to do much, but she loves swimming. She also loves to walk. “I don’t complicate exercise,” she says. Her fitness funda is to do something she enjoys. “Join a dance class, run by the beach, and skip rope on your balcony,” she suggests. She has an aversion to gyms and finds them claustrophobic.
On her fashion and style statement, she shares that she is too simple. “I like to keep it simple and clean cut. I don’t think I can carry off the complicated couture pieces.” But she likes keeping it sophisticated and classy and black is one of her favourite colours.
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