Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal open up about their story, keeping secrets, and the proposal that sealed the deal

On the last Monday before Fall, we made our way down a narrow lane in the heart of Girgaon, Mumbai, to reach Ferreira House, an old Portuguese bungalow. When we stepped in, the usual hustle and bustle of a cover shoot was in full swing. This is where we caught our first glimpse of our cover stars, Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal. We found a corner and observed from a distance, waiting for the lovely couple to finish primping and preening for the camera.

After the shoot, Sonakshi quickly changed into a comfy tee and jeans, and Iqbal joined her. We found a quiet spot on the terrace, tucked away in the two-centuries-old village of Khotachiwadi. We quickly discovered that the two were unlike any other star couple we had encountered. Their laid-back, down-to-earth demeanour made us shed that little sliver of nervousness we felt earlier.

As we sat cross-legged across each other, the glow on Sonakshi’s face was unmissable; it was as though the two had just tied the knot. Even more endearing was their deep friendship. They fought, argued and cackled the way one would with their best friend—a fact that both reiterate: “I knew I was marrying my best friend.”

They give themselves credit for having kept their relationship a secret and relatively hiccup-free for seven years. But at the bottom of it all, they are glad to be able to share their love with the world now. Zaheer is quick to joke that we’ll find everything about their “love story” on the internet, but we insist there are more questions to be answered.

In this exclusive conversation with Brides Today, the newlyweds share the last conversation they had before their wedding, how they balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and how theirs was the kind of a love story they had always envisioned for themselves.

Brides Today: Sonakshi, you’ve had quite the year both professionally and personally, with Heeramandi doing so well and then getting married. Would you say it’s the happiest you’ve been?

Sonakshi Sinha: I’ve been happy for the past seven years, in terms of coming into my own, finding a good partner and doing the work I want to do. My life changed when I turned 30. I turned it all around, and I feel like it’s been going through a great graph ever since. I wouldn’t say I’m at my happiest right now because the best has yet to come. I’m always looking at the future, even more so now with Zaheer.

BT: You have a degree in fashion design and have been a costume designer. So why not fashion? When did you realise acting was your true calling?

SS: I was quite inclined towards doing something in fashion because I enjoyed my three-year course. But destiny had other plans. Acting chose me; I didn’t choose acting. I think when I reached my first set was when I realised this was something I’d love to do for the rest of my life. I learnt everything while working. It’s been a great learning experience for me, and I’m still learning. I’ve always believed one should choose a form of work that doesn’t feel like work, and acting is something I really enjoy. So I guess that’s why it’s my true calling.

BT: What are your most precious takeaways from your relationship with your father, veteran actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha, both as his daughter and as two actors?

SS: My father is a wise man. He’s seen the world. He’s been a part of this industry and is part of politics. So he’s extremely understanding when it comes to a lot of things, which is the beauty of our relationship. I feel I can talk to him openly and take his advice on so many things. That’s the most beautiful relationship any daughter can have with her father.

BT: Sonakshi, when did you realise Zaheer was the man of your dreams?

SS: The day we first met, we shared an instant connection. The conversation flowed easily. We got along well and found that we shared many similarities. The trait I noticed most initially was that he was very respectful to everyone. He was extremely playful and funny and even poked fun at me. I admired that he had the confidence and guts to do that with me. I’m always in a great mood when he’s around, so that helps.

Zaheer Iqbal: I love her. Yes, our connection was evident from the day we met. It was our love for travel, more than anything, and that we are both really simple people. In spite of coming from privileged backgrounds, we share the same core beliefs and want the same thing in life—happiness. We’re not superficial people. She’s very relatable. I used to frequently say how she seems so real. When you see everyone else’s Instagram posts, there are times they seem fake. But not hers. So I always had this crush on her even before I met her. And then we met, and I fell in love.

SS: I fell for you first. You fell in love later!

BT: How are you handling the outburst of love and attention on social media, now that you are free to share your lives with the world?

ZI: The storage space on social media won’t be enough for the amount of photos and videos we have of doing such fun things. We didn’t post those. But now that we can, we’ve really gone all out. Half our time now is spent choosing the better ones to share.

SS: We have such amazing memories together. I want to share them with everyone. It’s lovely because you wouldn’t usually sit and skim through such photos. You’d come across a photo from 10 years ago out of the blue and try to remember the moment because those memories aren’t fresh. But with us, it’s been perhaps 3 to 4 years. So it’s been great reliving everything.

BT: Who’s the more romantic one?

SS: He’s the more romantic and filmy one! He’ll pull out the dialogues and songs at the right moment, and make grand gestures.

ZI: But she’s also very romantic. There’s this one very romantic thing we’ve done. No one knows about it, and I don’t know whether you’re mentioning it to people…

SS: He proposed to me under the Northern Lights. It was the sweetest thing ever and one of the best moments we’ve had. I was clueless about his plans to propose during that trip. But he just went for it.

BT: Given the digital age we live in, how did you keep your relationship under wraps for so long?

ZI: I don’t know why people say that. We’d enter a party separately, so the paparazzi wouldn’t know we were dating. But inside, we were pretty much like a couple. For seven years, if you see a man and woman sitting together and chatting for hours, it’d be clear something was going on. I’d figure it out.

SS: It wasn’t rocket science. I thank them for keeping quiet.

BT: Over the years, what did you discover about each other?

SS: He’s extremely generous and respectful, the qualities I wanted in my man. I appreciate that he appreciates me. It’s hard to find someone open and expressive about their feelings in today’s world…What annoys me about him is that he’s quite a noisy person. There’ll always be some noise emanating from his space. He’d either be making it with his throat, or whistling, or watching reels loudly on speaker on his phone.

ZI: A man will find that one woman who will help them evolve into a good person—that’s what Sona did for me. When I started seeing myself become that kind of a person, I realised it was love.

BT: Is this everything you ever dreamt about being in love?

SS: We first became really close friends. We’ve been best friends since we met. That’s the problem!

ZI: Because sometimes we forget we are married.

SS: Before we started dating, we called each other our best friends. If he ever called himself my boyfriend, I’d just say no. And then he became my fiancée. It was a ‘no’ even then. I didn’t want to tag it. And now he’s my husband. So we don’t want to define our relationship. We’re just friends!

BT: What are some of your favourite activities to do together, apart from travelling?

ZI: We are both sporty people, but she’s taught me how to enjoy holidays more. When I’m travelling, I want to do something or the other all the time. I want to see everything. I want to do everything. I carry a list of 10 restaurants and want to try all of them. I want to skydive and go bungee jumping… She’s taught me how to relax. With her, it feels more like a holiday. She calms me.

BT: Zaheer, which of Sonakshi’s films are your favourites?

ZI: I like Dabangg, Rowdy Rathore, R...Rajkumar… All her commercial movies. I love watching her on screen. She’s a fabulous dancer. Among men, for instance, no one can match Govinda. There are a lot of women who are great dancers, but no one can match Sona and her expressions. When she looks at the camera and winks, I always think it’s for me!

BT: Who are you both closest to in each other’s families?

ZI: She’s closer to everybody in my family now more than me. She took over long ago. In her family, I’m closest with her father. I love a wise, funny man. You can’t tell, but he has a great sense of humour. There’s so much to learn from him, so I love just sitting back and listening to him talk.

SS: They really get along. They share a lot of similarities in terms of their personality, confidence, logical thinking and eyes! Those big eyes...

BT: Let’s talk about both of you dancing the night away at the reception. How memorable was that?

ZI: You have no idea! It went up 10 notches once the cameras were off. At one point, it was just the two of us on the dance floor. We were all over the place and just had a blast. It was our day, something we had been waiting for for so long.

SS: We did everything in one day, from evening till night. And it was the best day ever. I’d not have wanted it any other way.

BT: What was the last conversation you had before you became husband and wife?

SS: We were just chilling and waiting for everyone to arrive. I told him, “Now you can’t go anywhere. There’s no way out anymore.” And he said, “Wow, it’s finally happening.”

BT: You shared your wedding photos on Instagram with detailed descriptions. Where did that idea come from?

SS: I posted them a few days after they came in. When I saw them, I remembered everything so vividly and wanted to put the memories down. I never want them to fade. It was about the two of us, and it all turned out so beautifully... I didn’t want my wedding to be about the designer or jewellery I wore. I wanted it to be meaningful and emotional, which is why I wore my mom’s sari.

BT: If you did a film together, what genre would you choose? Which directors would you both love to work with?

ZI: I think an action-romance would be great! I’d love that. Like a Mr. and Mrs. Smith. There’s Rohit Shetty, Zoya Akhtar and Rajkumar Hirani. They are fantastic storytellers.

On Sonakshi:
Outfit: Uppada Kanjivaram Tissue Sari with Meenakari 
Work, Raas Saris and Frontier Raas
Jewellery: Gold Necklace, Ring and Bracelet with 
Diamonds and Rubies from the Amara Collection — all 
Irasva Fine Jewellery

On Zaheer:
Outfit: Cotton-Chanderi Kurta and Pyjama, Frontier Raas
Jewellery: Gold Necklace with Coral Beads, Diamonds and 
Emeralds from the Amara Collection, Irasva Fine Jewellery

Hair: Madhuri Nakhale (for Sonakshi) & Sajid Husain (for Zaheer)
Make-up: Heema Dattani (for Sonakshi) & Rajesh Nag (for Zaheer)
Fashion Assistant: Nida Shaikh
Editorial Coordinator: Shalini Kanojia 
Location Courtesy: James Ferreira House, Mumbai