74 COSMOPOLITAN SEPTEMBER 2017 FOR MORE GREAT STORIES, VISIT COSMO.INAnyone who says they don’t is just
lying. We all do it. We can pretend
we’re above it all if we want, but
behind closed doors...” It’s human
nature, she clarifies simply. “It’s the
most basic tendency. It’s not even
about deriving pleasure from people’s
pain—it’s just curiosity! It’s gossip, it’s
fun and I love it.”
Tabloid-y gossip spontaneously
sutures our chat to an inevitable
subject, one that you can’t come
across without linking her name with
the news—her alleged catfight with
co-star Esha Gupta. “Apparently, if
you’re not someone’s best friend,
Answer B is: catfight,” she says, her
smile wry. “I have friends in the
industry, particularly Nargis [Fakhri]
and Athiya [Shetty] that I care about
very much, so it’s not like it’s a myth
that two actors can actually be
friends. I happen to only consider a
couple of people solid friends, and
they’re not in the industry. That’s all.”
Could part of it be because she
made her own way into the industry,
instead of being born into it? It’s in
that vein of musing, ever-so-
organically, nepotism sneaks its scaly
head into the conversation.“It’s an
interesting subject, and I’ll be
honest—I have indeed felt the
weight of it. There have been times
I’ve wondered if a part I may have
deserved went to someone else just
because she ‘knew someone’ or ‘was
someone’s daughter’. It’s sad and real,
but very often, people do get
opportunities because of who they
know, or who they’re related to. To
say it doesn’t happen is a lie. But it’s a
reality of life. It’s never going to
change. And I mean, come on, if
tomorrow my sister wanted to be in
Bollywood, I would ask around for
her. I would use my contacts to find
something for her (provided she was
suited for it). We’d all do it.” And
with that, it’s case dismissed.
But while her views on nepotism
and tabloids are unfettered and
interesting, it’s her perspective on sex
and relationships that really wins her
the progressive prize. Her views onlive-in relationships are a lot more
openly pro than a lot of politically-
correct actors we’ve talked to in the
past. “It’s the bloody same as a
marriage!” she exclaims, with a
sudden surge of radical passion. It’s a
subject she obviously feels strongly
about. “People think living with
someone is just a free pass to have
regular sex. I mean, you split bills,
you share a home, a life with
someone. You wash dishes together,do laundry together, make decisions
about the house together. How is that
different from marriage except for
that one piece of paper? How does
one have more validity than the
other? I’ve been in one, and I know
that it doesn’t mean that the door is
wide open. It’s a bona fide
commitment. With, you know,
regular sex,” she grins.
We love how the subject of sex
pulls out any filter Ileana might’veRuffled-neck blouse,
Marks & Spencer;
floral pantsuit, Roberto
Cavalli; cat-eye
sunglasses, Max Maracosmo interview