After a string of box-office flops, Salman Khan made a grand comeback with ‘Wanted’ and ‘Dabangg’, the latter launching Sonakshi Sinha into instant stardom. Yet, Sonakshi recently revealed she never planned to act or expected to be cast in the film.
Speaking on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast, she said, “I studied fashion design and wanted to work in that field, maybe fashion journalism or styling, but by chance, I became an actor.”
Sonakshi said acting was never part of her plan, despite Salman Khan urging her since she was 16. “I was overweight then and focused on fashion designing,” she recalled. She also remembered meeting Salman at Lakme Fashion Week while volunteering for ₹3,000. “He laughed and said, ‘Take me out for dinner with your first salary.’ I told him ₹3,000 wouldn’t even cover his meal.”
Sonakshi revealed that the Khan family’s persistence eventually led to her landing ‘Dabangg’ before she even realised what was happening. “After college, I lost a lot of weight, and the Khan family saw me at Amrita Arora’s wedding. Arbaaz bhai told me he’d written a film and thought I was perfect for it. I didn’t take him seriously, but soon he, the director, and writer came home to narrate ‘Dabangg’ to my parents, and before I knew it, I was on set,” she said.
Daughter of veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha, Sonakshi went on to star in ‘Rowdy Rathore’, ‘Son of Sardaar’, ‘Kalank’, and the critically acclaimed ‘Lootera’.
