Cashing in on glamour

These actresses had a huge fan following and many of their films ran for 100 days, if not a silver jubilee, at theatres. The situation now, as far as the Telugu film industry is concerned, is wholly different. While most of the heroes in Telugu cinema are from the state, a majority of the actresses are not.

Though many of them have yet to pick up even a smattering of Telugu and have their voices inevitably dubbed, they continue to be in tremendous demand, partly due to the fact that there is an acute dearth of local talent and also because these stars have less inhibitions when it comes to skin show.

Meteoric rise
One such heroine, whose career graph has been soaring, is the Mumbai model-turned-actress Ileana D’Cruz, one of the hottest names in the Telugu film circuit. Her charming looks have endeared her to avid cinegoers. When it comes to acting abilities, she is yet to prove herself in a big way, but she is still placed in the top slot of Telugu cinema purely because of her glamour quotient.

According to market buzz, Ileana today commands a price that no South Indian heroine has ever been able to do, despite the fact that many of them had been a part of  dozens of hit films. Ileana was first introduced to the arc lights by director YVS Chaudhary in 2006 when he cast her opposite lead star Ram. Her performance in the film fetched her the coveted Filmfare award for best debutant.

The film, however, was not much of a grosser and Ileana had to wait for the Puri Jagannath-directed Pokkiri, which turned out to be a blockbuster. The film, which featured one of the biggest heroes in Tollywood, Mahesh Babu, in the lead, had Ileana play an aerobics teacher who is continually harassed by a police officer. It was a glamour-oriented role and Ileana made most of the opportunity.

Soon, more films followed, the most significant being Aata with Siddharth where she essayed the role of a college student,  Jalsa with Chiranjeevi’s brother Pavan Kalyan, Bhale Dongalu with Jagapathi Babu, directed by Tarun Kumar, Rakhi and Shakti with Junior NTR, and Munna with Prabhas.

Khatamah opposite Ravi Teja, Saleem with Vishnu Manchu, Kick with Shyam and Nane Nee Rakshasi with Rana Daggubati. Of these films, Rakhi, Munna and Saleem were total washouts while the rest fared well at the box-office.

Puri Jagannath, who recently directed Amitabh Bachchan in the megahit Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap, has always placed great faith in the actress and after giving her the hit Pokkiri, repeated her in Nane Nee Rakshashi, which was well-received.

Plum projects
Ileana has also done films in other languages but is yet to taste success like she did in Telugu cinema. Her foray into Tamil cinema, with Kedi where she was paired with Ravi Krishna, could not even get a good initial opening and her debut film in Kannada last year, Huduga Hudugi, too did not do well at the box-office.

Her biggest gain in recent times is signing director Shankar’s Nanban where, for the first time, the man behind such superhits like Rajnikant’s Robot, has decided to remake a film. Nanban,  which is a remake of one of Aamir Khan’s biggest hits, 3 Idiots, will see Ileana taking on the role performed by Kareena Kapoor.

The actress is confident and with a proven director like Shankar at the helm, there is no question of her confidence being misplaced. Her biggest break in recent times however is Barfee in Hindi where Anurag Basu has saddled her with a weighty role opposite Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor.

Although the pulp press is replete with stories of the tepid vibes between the lead pair, Ileana is not one to be cowed down by such mindless gossip. A dedicated star, she is confident of proving herself in Bollywood. However, she has made it clear that Telugu films will continue to be her first priority.

Nanban might see her secure a toehold in Tamil cinema and Barfee is likely to do the same for her career in Bollywood. With age on her side and the glamour quotient intact, Ileana seems to be all set to make it to the big league in Hindi and Tamil films too.