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One of Anurag Basu’s most-loved films, Barfi, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D’cruz, made a lot of noise at the box office in 2012. Despite the fact that the film was experimental to its core, the audience welcomed its different treatment and language of love.
Barfi also marked Ileana’s Bollywood debut and the film was a turning point in her career. She played the role of Barfi’s first love interest, Shruti, and her character was loved by many. In an interview with indianexpress.com as Barfi completes 10 years, Ileana spoke about the movie and said that she was lucky because Anurag saw Shruti in her. She said, “Barfi had so much soul in it, that it was really hard to turn it down. It was a film I knew somewhere that I would never get again. Even though I had reservations on how my role would turn out, I just could not say no.”
Talking about her character, Ileana said that Anurag has a knack for pulling out raw emotions from his actors, “There are so many layers to Shruti, that I don’t think there is any other role that could compare with that one. It’s the one film I genuinely gave my heart to,” she said.
Every scene she had in the movie was unforgettable for Ileana. “The car scene where I see him for the first time, the part in the train and the scene in the coffee shop where he offers his heart to me on a platter.. it is all so memorable and tangible. Even though it was 10 years ago, I still get goosebumps when I recall these scenes.”
However, the most heartbreaking scene for Ileana is the one where Barfi and Shruti are drenched in rain and Shruti bursts into tears after rejecting Barfi’s proposal. “It pulls at your heartstrings and makes you cry,” she said.
She recalled her first meeting with Ranbir at Anurag Basu’s office and said, “Ranbir was so unassuming, really sweet and incredibly friendly and on the other hand I was shy and nervous and I did not know what to expect. I thought this guy is a superstar and he is really cool and I instantly knew that it would be easy working with him. He is one of the best co-stars I have ever had.”
Talking about her first interaction with Priyanka, the actor said, “I was getting ready in my van and someone knocked the door and PC came with all her energy and said hi. It was really sweet and unbelievably chill and lovely.”
Ileana said that even though she has not met Anurag for years, she will still give him a big bear hug the next time she meets him. Having spent a year and a half with him on the sets of Barfi, Ileana feels that there is absolutely no filter with him. “Anurag is a genius. He knew exactly what was going through my head, he knew exactly what I was thinking. He did read my mind sometimes and it was very spooky. He was the ‘pappa bear’ on set and I have a very special bond with him,” she added.
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