‘I went crying’: Ileana D’Cruz was offended with Anurag Basu, wanted to leave Barfi due to…

In 2012, Anurag Basu directed the period romantic comedy Barfi, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D’Cruz. Anurag ensured the film brought a whiff of fresh air to India(BHARAT)n cinema 13 years ago. The love story was unique and achieved cult status for its refreshing narrative, soulful soundtrack, standout performances, and overall feel-good vibe. The film sensitively portrayed physically and neurologically disabled characters: Ranbir played a deaf-mute, while Priyanka portrayed a girl with autism.

The second lead in the film, Ileana D’Cruz, plays the role of Shruti Ghosh Sengupta, a beautiful, educated young woman who falls in love with Barfi. However, her mother dissuades her from pursuing the relationship, believing that Barfi, due to his disabilities and lack of financial stability, would not be able to take care of her.

In a recent interview, Ileana D’Cruz recalled her time working with Anurag Basu. She said the movie is special to her, but also revealed that at one point, she wanted to quit the film midway.

Ileana reminisced and told NDTV that filmmaker Anurag Basu once shouted at her without any reason, which deeply offended her. D’Cruz told, “One morning, I just walked in super happy in the morning on set and I was like, hey, how’s it going? And he was in a very bad mood. Something ticked him off and he lashed out on me and I got really offended. So, I said, Dada, listen, if you think I’m not right, for this role and if you’re not happy with the work I’ve done, I’ll leave. I’m not going to sue you. I will leave. I love the story so much and it won’t make me happy to be in a film like this if you don’t think I’m right for the part. He went one way I went the other way crying and called the producer. And I said, no, I’m leaving”.

She further added, “I spoke to Vidya’s husband, Siddharth Roy Kapur, and he said he’s on his way, just do the scenes. So I go, get ready, have my makeup on, And Dada comes walking back in and he’s the only one who used to call me Ilu. I don’t allow anybody call me Ilu. And he just simply said that I walked in at a bad time, and not to take him seriously. We laughed it off and hugged it out.”