We aren’t very different from each other, our core is the same,” says Sonakshi Sinha, as she sits down with hubby (a term she’s still getting used to), actor Zaheer Iqbal, in the same room where they exchanged vows, to share with us little known facts about their love story. The couple, who got married on June 23, have this lovely vibe about them – warm, easy, loving – and that reflected in their wedding celebrations, which they say was planned in all of 25 days.

Their big day was all about them, the people who love them and the simple things that matter to them. In an exclusive conversation with us, Sonakshi and Zaheer talk about their relationship, bonds with their family and how their wedding turned out to be just the way they’d imagined – perfect! Read on...

Sonakshi: It’s just the way we wanted it. And that’s just us, that is the kind of people we are, and we wanted our wedding day to reflect us. Right from sending out the invite, which a friend of ours quickly made for us, to the wedding afterparty – we wanted it to be chilled out. We didn’t want to have the whole rigmarole of multiple functions, and we were sure we wanted our wedding to be one big party. So, that is what it was – one day of having fun where everyone who truly loves us showed up to celebrate us.

Zaheer: The first time we met was at Salman bhai’s (Salman Khan) house. And strangely, we were both present at Salman bhai’s birthday parties (at his farm and Mumbai home, Galaxy) several times since 2013, but our paths never crossed. I didn’t know she was there, and she didn’t know that I existed. Then finally, we met at Galaxy one evening, when a few of us just chilled together, and that was our first interaction. But the first time we really spent a lot of time with each other was on June 23, 2017 (hence, we chose that date for our wedding). There was a screening of Tubelight and an afterparty, where we ended up spending five hours together. We kept chatting, and suddenly, we turned around and we were like…where did everyone else go? We knew that day there was something special here.

Sonakshi: I was always certain that I wanted to keep it simple and wear a red sari on my wedding day. I saw pictures of the red sari (on the store’s website), and my sister-in-law called for it. I saw how it looked on me, and I knew that was my bridal outfit. Over the years, I’ve done so many shoots decked in bridal outfits, so I was like…I can’t look like that on my wedding day. I wanted to be comfortable, be able to dance and have a good time. I wore my mom’s saree and jewellery for one of the functions, it felt perfect.

Zaheer: The reason why our relationship works is because we both are not superficial. So, for us, the day was about us getting married, it wasn’t about the clothes we were wearing or anyone or anything else. Very often, you hear about how couples are exhausted after their wedding. We wanted to make sure that we are not that couple, and we have a lot of fun on our special day.

Sonakshi: They did, but we told them this is what we wanted, and they were very supportive. In fact, my mom was very impressed that we planned the wedding entirely on our own and they didn’t have to fuss over it at all. We planned everything in 25 days. I was shooting, and one day when we were on set, we thought of it and quickly called dad and asked him if he was free on those dates (as prior to that he was busy, campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections). He told us to go ahead with it. Then after 15 days, we thought let’s make a list and start inviting people personally, so it was literally like that. The wedding happened right here, where we are sitting now, it was so personal. The beauty of it all was that the decor was underway, the food was being laid out, our friends were ordering pizza, walking in and out of our rooms, and all this while we were getting ready. It felt like a home party.

Zaheer: I went over to their house, and I was nervous, because until that moment, I had never had a one-on-one chat with him. The moment we started talking, we began discussing a million things and we became like friends. Of course, I also told him that I wanted to ask her to marry me. I know he’s got this image of being intimidating, but he’s so genuine, chilled out and he is the sweetest person I’ve met in a long time.

Sonakshi: When I told my father about us, even I was very nervous. I didn’t know how he would react. I was trying to play it really cool. I asked him, “Aren’t you worried about my marriage because you haven’t asked me anything about it?” He said, “I have asked your mom ki apni beti se pucho”. Then, I told him there is a guy called Zaheer in my life, and he said, “Haan, maine padha bhi tha.” (There was news about us in the media sometimes). He said, “You guys are grown-ups, miya biwi raazi toh kya karega qazi.” I was like, ‘Oh, that was easy!’ I realized how chilled out and cool my dad is. He was really supportive about our relationship.

Sonakshi: Both mom and dad were very emotional. Dad just appears strong about it, but from within, he’s a softie. He was standing right next to me, and I knew that he was feeling very emotional, so I held on to him and told him, don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere (her eyes swell up as she says this). My mom broke down during the wedding when she realized that I was actually going to be moving out of the house. Now, we visit them very often, in fact, I speak to my mom a lot more now, at least twice a day.

Sonakshi: Absolutely! I think it will be beautiful. But genuinely, we’re not that very different from each other. Our core values are the same. Basically, our parents have taught us to be good human beings and believe in God, irrespective of whatever name you know him by. The most important thing in life is to be a good person – that’s the kind of values we have imbibed.

Zaheer: I know one thing for sure, that I could have 50,000 disagreements with Sona, but it will never have anything to do with religion. Salim uncle (Salman Khan’s father) had once shared with me that this is what he had told Salma aunty’s parents when they got married.

Sonakshi: In the seven years that we were dating, the fact that we are from different faiths has never come up in a discussion. We both respect other religions. It’s never been an issue for us or even a discussion. The only noise is from the outside and we have learnt how to shut it out because it doesn’t matter. We are two people who love each other, and no one else has a say in it. Also, we are actors. We belong to every person. We belong to the audience who come from different faiths.