Ileana D'Cruz

D'Cruz received largely positive remarks, with critics citing that she looked "pretty", "damn cool", and "every bit chic and stunning throughout the film", while being later awarded the Santosham Award, one of five awards for Jalsa, and the South Scope Style Award, besides garnering a nomination for the Best Actress – Telugu at the 56th Filmfare Awards South.

Ileana D'Cruz (born 1 November 1987) is an Indian-born Portuguese actress who primarily appears in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil language films.

Born in Mumbai, she spent most of her childhood in Goa.

Ileana D'Cruz was born to a Catholic father and Muslim mother in Mahim, Bombay (now Mumbai) on 1 November 1987.

She is an atheist.

Her family moved to Parra, Goa when she was 10 years old.

Her first modelling portfolio was created in January 2003, and D'Cruz called it a "disaster".

Subsequent photo shoots and ramp shows led to a second portfolio the following year, which landed her advertisements from Electrolux, Emami Talc and Fair & Lovely.

The latter, in particular, which was directed by Rakesh Roshan, gave her exposure and brought in several offers for acting in feature films.

In 2005, D'Cruz was called for an audition by director Teja, but the project was cancelled.

D'Cruz made her screen debut in 2006 with the Telugu-language film Devadasu, a commercial success, which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut - South.

D'Cruz established herself as a leading actress in Telugu cinema with successful films including Pokiri (2006), Rakhi (2006), Munna (2007), Jalsa (2008), Kick (2009) and Julayi (2012).

D'Cruz received Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu nomination for Pokiri, Jalsa and Kick.

She made her debut in Tamil cinema with Kedi (2006) and starred in Shankar's Nanban (2012), a commercial success.

She made her feature film debut in the Telugu language romance film Devadasu (2006), directed by Y. V. S. Chowdary.

She underwent acting classes with Aruna Bhikshu, before starting to work on the film.

She recalls that during filming she felt "pressured ... almost cried and didn't want to go further", but went ahead after her mother encouraged her, giving her "the lecture of a lifetime [...] at 3 am."

A review from Indiaglitz stated that she "has chiseled features and a figure to die-for."

Devadasu became the year's first commercially successful Telugu film, eventually grossing around ₹140 million, whilst earning D'Cruz the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debutant.

She next appeared in the gangster film Pokiri in which she portrayed an aerobics teacher, who is harassed by a corrupt police officer.

The film was a high financial success, emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time.

She made her Tamil-language film debut in Kedi (2006) opposite Tamannaah Bhatia and Ravi Krishna.

She received favourable reviews for her performance as Satya, a college student who is on the run from the home minister's crooked son by whom she is targeted, when leading a protest and demanding punishment for his crimes.

In 2008, she performed the female lead role in the action film Jalsa, directed by Trivikram Srinivas.

Her first 2009 release, titled Kick, was likewise declared a box office success, becoming one of the highest-grossing films that year.

Later that year she starred in the films Rechipo and Y. V. S. Choudary's Saleem both of which performed poorly at the box office.

D'Cruz had 2 releases in 2011.

Her first film that year was Shakthi, where she essayed the lead female role.

She gave a stage performance for this movie's audio release function along with Jr. NTR, as part as promotion of the film.

The socio-fantasy film, the costliest Telugu film ever made at ₹ 250,000,000.

D'Cruz expanded to Hindi cinema in 2012 with Anurag Basu's comedy-drama Barfi!, for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

She has since played the leading lady in the successful films such as Main Tera Hero (2014), Rustom (2016) and Raid (2018).

She has received several awards including a Filmfare Award South and a Filmfare Award.

In addition to her acting career, D'Cruz is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products.

D'Cruz acquired Portuguese nationality in 2014.

In an interview with Verve in 2017, she claimed that Portugal was a part of her ancestry.

She was in a relationship with Australian photographer Andrew Kneebone.

It was rumoured that they had already married.

On 28 August 2019, Indian media aired the news that the couple had broken up.

D’Cruz married Michael Dolan in May 2023 and welcomed their first child, a son, in August 2023.