Years ago, Mandana Karimi left her motherland Iran to make it big in India's glamour industry. Now, the leggy lass is all set to put her career on hold for love. Mandana, who got engaged to businessman Gaurav Gupta in July 2016, will enter holy matrimony early next year. She says, “I am getting work offers, but my priority is marriage and family. It will be a close-knit affair.“

About allowing her career to take a backseat, she elaborates, “Many people have warned me against it, but marriage is what matters most to me. I don't want to have an amazing career and not have a family to celebrate my success with. When Gaurav proposed, I thought of how he has been with me through my ups and downs. People find me hot and sexy, but he looks beyond that. I came to India to find a career and found the man of my dreams.“

Is she keen on going the family way? “I wouldn't marry if I didn't want children. I most definitely want to have a family,“ the actress says.

Mandana is clear that post marriage, she will be more choosy, professionally. “I am not focussing on work anymore; I'd rather go with the flow and take up more meaningful films. Having said that, marriage will not make me less independent,“ she says.