Big wait for Ileana at Airtel
It was all confusion and long wait at Airtel office, Begumpet, Hyderabad, today. A big gathering of about a hundred people, including the media, customers and passersby, made a long wait for about three hours for the special guest – actress Ileana. She was to meet the lucky winners of the contest – Meet Ileana – at 12.20 p.m. But delay in the flight schedule from Mumbai brought her around 2.40 p.m. Of the ten winners, seven of them were present initially. The delay forced half of them leave without meeting the actress.

Wearing a multi-colored skirt, putting on a jeans coat, tan goggles and sporting flowing silken hair, Ileana checked into the lounge, accompanied by her mom. The staff took her inside a dungeon-like corner and the doors were closed from inside. Three or four lucky winners, who lingered with patience, were allowed inside, one after the other. Each of them sat besides Ileana and her mom, photographed with a Polaroid camera, and was asked to leave with a forced smile. The moment the winners exited from the meeting room, they found themselves part of the crowd.

First vote always for Tollywood
Later, the mother-daughter duo posed for snaps. In a hurriedly arranged media interaction, Ileana said: "I am happy to visit this office. My connection is Airtel and I am thrilled at its service." Replying to a question, she said that producers of Jalsa had maintained a low profile on the film's publicity, while the promotion was high for Bhale Dongalu. "I have nothing to do with this publicity." She was reluctant to disclose the details of her next projects as a staff of Airtel asked her to speak only about the company. However, she denied rumors that she was making a tilt towards Bollywood. "It's all guessing, guessing. My first and foremost vote is for Tollywood." When asked whether she faced any problems with land grabbers in Goa with regard to her house, Ileana said she did face the problem. But, her mother immediately shot back, saying: "No, nothing like that." She repeatedly sought the media to excuse her delay.

Interestingly, some of the customers mistook a fair-looking man for Ileana's dad and shook hands with him much to his surprise. When the winners were supplied with instant photographs, they felt disappointed as the snaps looked blurry.