New Delhi: ‘Dabangg’ actress Sonakshi Sinha recently opened up about her marriage to long-time beau Zaheer Iqbal and speculation surrounding her religious conversion.
In a recent interview with Hauterrfly, Sonakshi revealed that she was never pressurised to give up her religion and convert to Islam by Zaheer’s family.
The actress shared that when they decided to exchange wedding vows, they never discussed about their religion.
“Zaheer and I weren’t really paying attention to religion. We are two people who love each other and wanted to get married to each other,” she said.
“He didn’t enforce his religion on me, and I am not enforcing my religion on him. This wasn’t even a discussion,” she added.
Sonakshi went on to share that she and Zaheer respect each other’s religion and culture and never try to impose it on each other.
“We appreciate and understand each other’s cultures. They follow certain traditions at their house, I follow certain traditions at my house. He participates in my Diwali pooja, and I participate in his rituals. And that’s all that matters,” she said.
“Under the circumstances, the best way to get married was the Special Marriage Act, where I, as a Hindu woman, do not need to change my religion, and he, as a Muslim man, can remain a Muslim man. It’s as simple as that. I was never asked, ‘Are you going to convert?’ We love each other, and we’re going to get married.”
Regarding the rumours and negativity surrounding their marriage, the actress said that they had turned off the comment section on their social media handles to avoid unnecessary stress.
“On my big day, mujhe yeh bakwas dekhni hi nahi hai (I didn’t want to be near this nonsense),” she said.
Sonakshi and Zaheer dated for nearly seven years before getting married on June 23, 2024.