I am not Vidya Balan. I am a hardcore commercial heroine: Ileana

She wowed everyone with her understated performance in her Bollywood debut 'Barfi', but Ileana D'Cruz says she is more comfortable doing hardcore commercial roles

The 25-year-old actress's second film is Rajkumar Santoshi's action-comedy 'Phata Poster Nikhla Hero', which is a departure from her first Hindi film. Ileana feels Bollywood and glamour go hand-in-hand and she is no Vidya Balan to pull off roles like 'Barfi' on regular basis.

"I must admit that if you want to survive in Bollywood, you have to have a certain amount of glamour attached to you other wise it is difficult may be. I can't talk about other actresses but I have relied on glamour in films in the south.

It works. "If you look glamorous, dress well, it works in the film. You can pass off in a film by just looking good. I am not Vidya (Balan). She is great and does not need glamour. I cannot even compare myself to her," Ileana told in an interview.

The actress says she decided to be part of 'Phata Poster...' as she felt people had started taking her too seriously after her portrayal of Shruti in Anurag Basu's 'Barfi' and feared getting typecast.

"I think before 'Barfi' released, I had a feeling that people won't be able to accept me in such a serious role because they have never seen me do something like this before. After the film they started taking me too seriously and I didn't like it.

"I wanted them to understand that I am a commercial heroine. I have done hard core commercial films down south. I think I wanted to get into that space again," said Ileana, who has starred in Telegu superhits like 'Devadasu', 'Pokiri' 'Jalsa', 'Kick' among others. 

In 'Phata Poster...' the actress has been paired opposite Shahid Kapoor. The film will hit theatres this Friday. The film follows the story of Vishwas Rao, an aspiring actor mistaken as a super cop. It comes from the director, who has earlier made hit comedies like 'Andaz Apna Apna' and 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani'. 


"The film takes comedy to another level. Rajji (Santoshi) has got a punchline in every scene. He has got an impeccable comic timing and he is a fabulous actor. I always wanted to do something like that and it is more than I could have asked for," Ileana said. In the film, Ileana says her character finds problems in anything and everything around her and is hence addressed as 'Complaint Kajal'. 

"Kajal is the complete opposite of me. I am a very quiet person. Kajal is very talkative, she just does not know where to stop. She is a little boisterous. She is this self-appointed social worker. She has filed so many complaints that people are fed up of her and call her 'Complaint Kajal'," she said. Ileana has her hands full in Bollywood. 

After 'Phata Poster...', she will be seen opposite Saif Ali Khan in director duo Raj Nidimoru-Krishna DK's romantic comedy 'Happy Ending' and will share screen space with Varun Dhawan in his father David Dhawan's film 'Main Tera Hero'. 

When asked if working in films down south has taken a backseat, Ileana said, "There is no contract that I won't do south films anymore, but as of now I am very busy working here. Life has been pretty full on. "It is out of the question to do films down south. I think when the time is right, when I have some time off from Bollywood and there is some really good offer, I will consider doing films there," she said.