She made her mark in Telugu, Tamil and is now trying to create a name in Bollywood too. Ileana turns 25 today! The star made her Bollywood entry this year in Anurag Basu’s Barfi and couldn’t have asked for a better debut film.

The touching story won worldwide acclaim and Ileana was commended for her exquisite beauty and commanding performance. So, we bet she’s celebrating her birthday in grand style today. Her next Bollywood project is Phata Poster Nikla Hero.

It all began with her being encouraged to take up modelling when she was just a teenager. She bagged ramp shows and modelled for products such as Emami and Fair & Lovely. She made her debut in 2006 in the Telugu romantic flick Devadasu which was a box-office success and earned her the best debutant award as well. Pokiri with Mahesh Babu followed and became one of the biggest commercial successes of her career.

There were a few damp squibs along the way like Rakhi and Munna, but Ileana made a good turnaround in Aata, opposite Siddharth. She had other hits such as Jalsa opposite Pawan Kalyan and Kick in 2009 in which she romanced Ravi Teja.

Ileana returned to Tamil cinema after Kedi in 2006, was this year’s blockbuster Nanban, directed by Shankar. Her Telugu film Julai with Allu Arjun was a hit, despite evoking a mixed response. We hope continues at this pace as she steps into a new year today. Here’s wishing the very lovely Ileana a happy birthday!