Here’s how Ileana D’Cruz landed Barfi at a ‘very random time’ without planning her Bollywood debut

Ileana D’Cruz has reflected on her entry into Bollywood, admitting that her debut with Anurag Basu’s Barfi! was far from planned. The 2012 film, which also starred Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor, recently completed 13 years. Looking back, Ileana said she never mapped out her career or had a fixed idea of when she would move to Hindi cinema.

In a conversation with NDTV, Ileana explained, “I didn’t really plan my entire career. I didn’t plan on becoming an actor to begin with. So when I did start acting, it was a job. It was interesting because I hadn’t learnt about acting. It wasn’t a concrete plan I’ll get to Bollywood after so many years of working in the South.”

She revealed that Barfi! reached her during an unexpected phase. “Barfi came at a very random time when I was 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, but Barfi was very niche. It took me a little time to decide whether I should do it,” she said.

The hesitation, Ileana added, was eased after Basu’s unusual approach. “He shot me on a handycam on the pretext of having a candid conversation. At the end of it, all he had to say was, ‘You’re my Shruti.’” That convinced her to take the role, which later earned her critical acclaim.

Life beyond the films

Ileana was last seen in Do Aur Do Pyaar (2024), a romantic comedy with Vidya Balan, Pratik Gandhi, and Sendhil Ramamurthy.

On the personal front, the actor married Michael Dolan in 2023. The same year, she welcomed her first child, Koa Phoenix Dolan. In June 2025, the couple’s second son, Keanu Rafe Dolan, was born.

During the interview, Ileana also spoke about why she guards her children’s privacy. “It would definitely have been hard for me to be photographed with my babies. It would just be incredibly confusing for them. And it’s not fair to them because they wouldn’t understand what is going on. I would not be okay with it,” she said.

Her reflections underline not just the unpredictability of her career choices, but also her conscious effort to draw boundaries in her personal life.