Ileana D'Cruz

“My entire life goal was to be accepted by everyone. I think that's what I wanted the most. I never got it.”

“I had a different perception of what a relationship or love is like. I was all giddy-headed and fairytale about it in my head, but it's so different. There's a lot of restraint that you've got to have, compromising in certain situations - and you've got to have a lot of respect.”

“I didn't realise how much I was alienating people. I would constantly refuse to go out when friends would call. At one point, I didn't realise I was at home for a week.”

“When you are working with actors who are secure, who have nothing really to prove, it gets a lot easier working with them.”

“I am very critical about the way I look.”

“My basic knowledge about Punjabi comes from films.”

“My father worked as a mechanical draftsman at Mazagaon Docks and is a Catholic. My mum was a Muslim, so my parents broke quite a few rules to get married.”

“I do use social media as a gateway into my personal life, but only to a certain extent. When I don't want to, I pull the blinds down.”

“It makes it so much easier to work with people who you can implicitly trust.”

“I'm happy I'm doing films at a slow pace rather than doing anything and everything.”

“I am a massive foodie.”

“I love wearing very simple colours.”

“At one point, you start wondering if being talented in Bollywood is enough, or you need connections.”

“I was always a very self-conscious person and was picked on for my body type. I used to feel low and sad all the time, but didn't know I was suffering from depression and Body Dysmorphic Disorder till I got help.”

“I don't want my personal life to become a part of public domain. It is something that is sacred and means a lot to me. I don't want it to become some frivolous gossip column.”

“It would be prudish to say, 'I don't want to be a prop in a film,' because there are certain films I've loved doing, as I have looked very glamorous in them.”

“We actors get a lot of love, but at times, we get double the amount of negativity for no reason whatsoever.”

“I feel that I don't have to have it all together all the time. I don't have to be this smiling face for the public.”

“The reason I did 'PPNH' was because I wanted to do something different, wacky, and mainstream after 'Barfi!'”

“I don't like being called a celebrity. So much so that I find it very uncomfortable looking at myself on the screen.”