Ileana D'cruz: Marriage and live-in relationships aren't different

Ileana DcruzIleana Dcruz may be doing only a handful films but thats the way she likes it After being part of the South industry she made her Bollywood debut with Anurag Basus Barfi 2012 followed by Phata Poster Niklla Hero 2013 Main Tera Hero and Happy Ending both 2014 Rustom 2016 and recently Mubarakan We catch up with her at a production houses office where shes promoting her next BaadshahoYou are playing a badass character in BaadshahoI love the fact that I am doing something which I wanted to for a long time I was surprised when Milan director Luthria offered me the role As it is a central character I am aware that it comes with a certain responsibility so I had to contain my excitement I irritated the hell out of the director by asking him to start the film as soon as possible It was an emotional journey for me mdash from being excited to breaking down on the last day I cried like crazy when Milan announced on the speakers That was Ileanas last shot These are the kind of roles that are liberating and I hope our hard work pays offYouve done six films and have always played the leading lady Is that a conscious decisionYes There have been lots of films which were offered to me that had great scripts but I said no to them I dont want to be part of a film where I have nothing to do I am a selfish actor I want to have a stellar role in a successful film I would never settle for anything less I compete with myself and push myself to breaking point to get what I wantMost of your films have been an ensemble cast Does it ever get to a point where you question your screen timeLike I said Id do a film only if my character adds value to it My intuition plays a strong part in selecting the films I took a long time to say yes to Barfi because there was Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in the film so why would someone look at me At the end of the film I wasnt even getting the guy laughs All the films that I have done are because of the strong intuitionYou are a private person and avoid media glare I like to disconnect when I am not shooting and I am selective about the people I want to spend time with I cant make small talk If I am at a party I should know someone or else I drag a person along Otherwise Id be awkward standing in a corner looking like a fool I cant sugarcoat and praise people for the sake of it Its not that I dont love to socialise but not as often as other people would doWould you ever open up about your relationship with Australian beau Andrew KneeboneI doubt that will ever happen Ive been working in the industry for 11 years Its taken me a lot to understand the working culture We actors get a lot of love but at times we get double the amount of negativity for no reason whatsoever There are times when the comments become nasty Its not fair for him to go through it He is a normal person and is entitled to his privacy I have had people coming and telling me that he is not an Indian and I find it stupid He is someone who has been special to me and I dont want to be in a situation where my family is targetted for no fault of theirsDo you discuss these issuesInitially we did because there are a lot of Hindi phrases and words that he doesnt understand laughs But we tend to ignore it most of the time For us the most important part has been accepting each other There was a time when I had to explain to him that people will speak rubbish but you and I know each other and thats what matters I feel it all boils down to commitmentDoes he give you a feedback or opinion on your filmsYes sometimes But we are clear that this is my line of work and he has his own which is photography We dont interfere in each others professional front In fact my family gives me a lot of feedback I do not like to be told what to do but in the end I take my own decisionsDo you plan to get hitched anytime soonI think marriage and livein relationship arent really different It is just a piece of paper that separates the two Marriage is great for a lot of people It changes a lot of things between two people but I dont look at it in that way My commitment towards him is not going to changeHave you ever thought about the fact that married actresses dont get workIt is an accepted norm that this is the way the industry functions I can either accept it and move on Or choose to fight it for the rest of my life Id choose the first option We have had many instances of actresses who have been super talented but they didnt get offers as after marriage which is unfair I am happy with the work that I have got so far Personally and professionally I am in a great space There are no complaintsPhotos Ileana DCruz rocks the ripped jeans look