Ileana D’Cruz established herself as a solid actor right after her Bollywood debut with Hindi film ‘Barfi!’ (2012). She continued to build a huge fanbase with her natural charm and strong screen presence with hits like ‘Main Tera Hero’, ‘Rustom’, ‘Main Tera Hero’ and ‘Phata Poster Nikla Hero’.
But the actress did not have any plans to enter Bollywood.
In a latest interview, D’Cruz revealed that ‘Barfi’ came to her at a ‘very random time’. A candid conversation with filmmaker Anurag Basu that was shot on his handycam, landed her the role of Shruti in the film, revealed Ileana, who is celebrating 13 years of ‘Barfi!’. The film also starred Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in lead roles.
Set in Darjeeling and Kolkata of the 1970s, the film follows the story of Barfi (Kapoor), a deaf-mute young man based in Darjeeling, and his relationships with two girls, the beautiful Shruti (D'Cruz) and the autistic Jhilmil (Chopra).
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"I never really mapped out my career. I didn't set out to become an actress in the first place. So, when I began acting, it was simply a job. It was intriguing because I hadn't received any formal training in acting. There was no solid plan that I would transition to Bollywood after several years in the South,” she said.
“’Barfi’ arrived at a very unexpected time while I was still working in the South. And it was not the story I thought I would get, I thought I'd do this full-blown masala commercial film. You know ‘Barfi’ was a commercial film but it was very niche. It took me a little time to decide whether I should do it," the actress revealed.
On the work front, D’Cruz was last seen in the 2024 film ‘Do Aur Do Pyaar’. The film also starred Vidya Balan, Pratik Gandhi, and Sendhil Ramamurthy.
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