After much speculation around their wedding, actor-couple Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal are set to tie the knot on June 23. And it looks like the festivities have already begun. On Monday night, Sinha shared several pictures on Instagram from what seems to be a bachelorette party. The snaps featured her bestie, actor Huma Qureshi and Iqbal’s sister, stylist Sanam Ratansi.

Now, we have learnt that the couple will host a haldi ceremony on June 20, three days before their wedding.

“The function will take place at Sonakshi’s new Bandra (Mumbai) home, which she bought after leaving her parents’ house. It will be a tight setting with only close friends and family. Less than 50 people have been invited for the function — that’s why they opted for Sona’s house as the venue,” says a source.

The insider also tells us that the bride-to-be is leaning towards unconventional decor for her haldi. The source shares, “She wants to keep the ambience minimal and has suggested certain ideas to the planners. Sonakshi is not going for a typical yellow and pink theme, as she wanted to avoid mainstream decor.”

Sonakshi Sinha is exactly where she wants to be. Behind her, she has a successful web series in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, and ahead are interesting projects, including Kakuda and Karan Rawal’s thriller. Does turning producer figure as the next step in her career? Many of her peers —from Deepika Padukone to Alia Bhatt, from Anushka Sharma to Kriti Sanon—have made the shift. But the actor says she is enjoying the strong roles coming her way too much to turn producer.

“Kussh [Sinha, brother] has his production company,” starts Sonakshi, who fronts Kussh’s maiden offering, Nikita Roy and The Book of Darkness. 

“I am busy as an actor and entrepreneur, with my press-on nails company. My energy goes into both [these channels]. I’m very happy with the offers I’m getting now, I want to pick and choose good work. I don’t have the time to sit and work on scripts with teams to produce projects. If I get into something, I’ll get into it 100 per cent; I can’t do anything half-heartedly,” she smiles.

The actor rules out the possibility of expanding her love for cinema to script writing. “I’m not much of a writer. I like painting and creating art.” When she is not acting, painting or focusing on her business, you’ll find Sonakshi spending her downtime in her Bandra apartment. The actor says she chose the location keeping her actor-father Shatrughan Sinha’s dream in mind.

“My dad used to tell me how he bought his first house in Bandstand. He still has that. So, I always wanted a house in Bandra too. It’s my place to have work meetings and catch up with friends. I still live in Juhu.”

The festival of Diwali begins with the auspicious day of Dhanteras, which signifies new beginnings, wealth and prosperity. This year, Diwali is extremely special for Sonakshi Sinha, as she recently moved into her beautiful sea-facing apartment in Bandra. The actress talks about her family’s tradition of buying gold and celebrating the festival in her new home.

“Well, that’s the main ritual in the family, to buy gold on Dhanteras. I remember accompanying mom to different jewellery stores to buy beautiful pieces, which she still does. Personally, I don’t do gold shopping, my mom buys gold for me. So, when it comes to jewellery, I trust my mom’s choice. She has a stunning collection of ornaments that have passed down from generations. On occasions like Dhanteras and Diwali she makes sure that I am wearing gold,” says Sonakshi.

Bring up her name which bears the word sona, and the Dabbang actress breaks into a laugh and says, “It’s all thanks to my dad (Shatrughan Sinha) who fell in love with my eyes when I was born. He said, ‘I have never seen such beautiful eyes, ever, in my life and so I am going to call her Sonakshi. Here, sona means gold and akshi means eyes, toh sone jaise aakhon wali and so Sonakshi!”

As far as her new beginnings are concerned, Sonakshi, who won appreciation for her performance in the web show Dahaad, is happy to have ticked off one wish from her bucket list, which is to buy her own house before she hit 30. Talking about it, she shares, “I was a little late in fulfilling my dream. It was because of my dad that I wanted to buy my own house. He fondly talks about his first house, which he still owns that he bought after he came to Mumbai from Patna. It’s a 1 BHK apartment at Bandstand (Bandra). For him, it’s like his palace. Seeing his excitement, I always wanted to buy a house on my own and it’s a special feeling.”

The actress has always lived with her parents and brothers, Luv and Kussh, at their family home in Mumbai. Talking about how they reacted to the new move in her life, and she says, “They respected my decision and somewhere in their hearts they know that I am not going to leave them (laughs). I am so comfortable there, as I have grown up in that house. I shuttle between both the houses, and I enjoy spending most of my time with my family in the other house.”

Ask Sonakshi who she feels carries off a gold ensemble beautifully, and she says, “In Bollywood, if there’s one person who carries off gold in style, that’s Rekha ji. I think she always looks so beautiful in those lovely saris she wears. Even today, she’s timeless and ethereal.”