Actress Ileana D'Cruz, who will be seen romancing Saif Ali Khan in 'Happy Ending', says she would not mind going without makeup to do a performance-oriented role.
The 27-year-old 'Main Tera Hero' star says she was mighty impressed with Alia Bhatt in Imtiaz Ali's 'Highway' and wants to do a similar character which provides her with ample scope to showcase her talent.
"Alia did a fantastic job in 'Highway'. I would like to do something like that where there is no need for makeup and it does not matter how I look; a role where the sole focus is on my performance," Ileana told PTI in an interview. The actress, who made her Bollywood debut with Ranbir Kapoor-starrer 'Barfi!', says she consciously tries to show her versatility with her choice of films.
Her second film 'Mai Tera Hero' was an out-and-out comedy and her upcoming movie opposite Saif Ali Khan 'Happy Ending' is a romantic-comedy. "I want my body of work to be versatile. 'Main Tera Hero' was this exaggerated, loud comedy but 'Happy Ending' is much subdued with a different concept. The characters I played in both the films are poles apart from each other. In 'Happy Ending', I play a sassy girl, who actually thinks she is a guy in head. I have not done a role like that before," she said. Ileana initially thought 'Happy Ending' would be a cakewalk for her as she had already done a comedy but she found that it was not always easy to come up with perfect dead-pan expressions.
"There is a thin line between giving dead-pan expressions and coming out as cold on screen, I had to maintain that. My character is of a girl who does not believe in love, though she writes love stories. I thought it would be easy as I had done 'Main Tera Hero' but subtle comedy is much more difficult," Ileana added.
Ileana credits her performance in the film to its director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK and Saif. She says Saif was perfect for his role and his comic timing helped her better her own act.
"Raj and DK were clear as to how they wanted my character to be so this helped me get into the groove while Saif has mastered this genre. The kind of expressions and faces he makes, I can't do that. He made me comfortable. If it was not for him, I wouldn't have been able to deliver in the movie." Ileana is glad that she has worked with actors of different generations in all her three films.
"It was amazing working with all three-- Ranbir, Varun and Saif and I share different equation with these people. Ranbir and I spoke less because he does not talk much. "With Varun I developed 'college buddies' type of relationship. He is chilled out and so much fun. Saif is experienced and a learned man. Conversations with him are always so interesting. I learnt a lot from him," Ileana said. Saif's wife Kareena has a special appearance in the film and Ileana says she bonded really well with the actress.
"Though Kareena and I don't have scenes together, we bonded a lot off screen. She is a very east person to be with. We hung out together, she is fun," the actress said. 'Happy Ending', which also stars Govinda, Ranvir Shorey and Kalki Koechlin in pivotal roles, releases this Friday, November 21.
