Ileana's Interview !! - Part I

Ileana gives an Interview to rediff.com about the journey from being a model to now becoming the FIRST face in Southern Cinema!

Excerpts from the Interview:

She is the pretty face with an hour-glass figure and oodles of confidence who is rocking Telugu cinema. She was one of the models in the Fair and Lovely ad to be asked by director Rakesh Roshan if she would work in his film.

The lissome Ileana D'Cruz's first Telugu film, Devadasu, brought her notice, and her second film -- the blockbuster Pokiri -- showed she was clearly here to stay.

"I lived in Goa for about seven years. I was in class XII in Goa and the manager of the hotel where my mother worked said I should get into modelling. He fixed up a meeting with (former model) Marc Robinson who was also staying at the hotel. I was not keen to meet him but was persuaded to do so. He suggested I get a portfolio made. So in January 2003, I got my portfolio done. It was a disaster as I had no idea of lighting, poses etc. I just did it. There was nothing planned."

This portfolio won her the first contract -- a series of shoots for Hyatt, especially for their spa at Goa. And Ileana was not too comfy about doing it. "I was completely nervous and I had to do the ad with two other models. I did it and I thought I could go back to my studies. But that brought in more ramp shows. People slowly started noticing me..."

"I didn't know the language, couldn't dance or act. But the director Choudhry had confidence in me and encouraged me, urged me on saying I would make it. It was nerve-wracking and tough. There were so many people on the sets staring at you. I wasn't confident and so I decided I would go with the flow," she says.

"Shooting the songs was tough and though the director put me at ease and was patient, I felt pressured. I almost cried and didn't want to go further. Then my mom gave me the lecture of a lifetime one day at 3 am just after we came back from the shoot. She put sense into me, to give the project the best I could since it was a commitment we couldn't break. I came back because of my mom."

"I was not too keen as Devadasu had not released and I wondered whether I have it in me to do another film. Manjula (who co-produced Pokiri and is Mahesh Babu's sister) was insistent and coerced me to do it. I felt good as I was wanted."Did she have any apprehensions about doing a hero-centric film? "I did have but then I thought I could give it a shot."

"Action director Vijayan master told me my expression in those sequences was important and it was so intense that I got goose-bumps. We went ahead for the second take and after that I was completely shaken that I cried for 15 minutes on the set after the shot." Ileana had a blast shooting for Pokiri. "Puri Jagannath (director) is chilled out and very open to ideas."

Part - II Coming soon!