I was pitching other actresses for my roles, says Ileana D’cruz

Dressed in black, Ileana D’cruz is a sight to behold. The pretty actress, who is soaking up all the attention she’s getting for her newly-acquired washboard abs, starts off talking about her fondness for all things social media. It’s a boon, since fans get to hear directly from her. “I like the fact that I can talk about things on social media,” she says simply. “The clarification comes straight from the horse’s mouth on all kinds of speculation.”

Self aware to the hilt, Ileana also knows the dark side of the medium, and refuses to tolerate trolls. “Sometimes it’s beyond my understanding,” explains Ileana. “I’m okay with having a conversation with random people but it gets to a point when they talk rubbish for the sake of it. They feel like spewing hate just for five seconds of fame — they feel important. I’m not for that and that’s what really pisses me off. I’m all for a good ‘ol debate instead.”

Ileana’s latest movie, Rustom, released to mixed reviews this week. It’s an important movie for Ileana, since she’d been absent from the movie circuit for well over 18 months before this. Her last movie, Happy Ending, with Saif Ali Khan, didn’t do too well at the box office, despite good reviews.

Reminiscing, Ileana can’t fathom why the movie did not work. “I don’t know why it did not work, honestly,” she says. “Majority of the people I talked to say that they all loved it. I met a couple of people who asked why I was doing Happy Ending. I still stand by it; I think Saif was funny in it and Govinda was brilliant. It’s gutsy to play a guy with a paunch. We had fun doing it, it was shot well and I really love it.”

In a highly competitive industry, what happens to an actress whose movie doesn’t do well Ileana sighs, “With Happy Ending I was genuinely disappointed as that was one movie I was really looking forward to. I didn’t expect Main Tera Hero to do so well, I thought Barfi, Phata Poster Nikla Hero wasn’t going to do well. My radar for what works and what doesn’t is totally off. It was fairly disappointing.”

She adds, “After Happy Ending, I assumed I would get better work, but I didn’t get good offers. I had actually lost confidence in myself. I remember meeting a big director for a role, which was perfect. It had glamour, performance and a big production house. I asked them why were they offering me the role, and they said that they thought I could do it. I pitched another actress for the role, can you believe it I don’t regret not doing the film.”

She thinks of Rustom as a boon. “I was low for a while. At the time Rustom came to me, everything felt in place.” The movie is completely the ‘60s but it wasn’t a smooth ride with the costume designer of the movie. “If I feel something is lacking, I don’t walk as confidently, I don’t feel beautiful. If the costumes or the hair or something is not right, it plays at the back of my head. I had big fights with the costume designer but there was mutual respect. I realised later that it really worked what she had designed for me and today we are thick friends.”