After Mehendi, stage set for Sonakshi-Zaheer civil marriage and celebratory party

Mumbai, June 23 (IANS) The stage is set for the much-anticipated wedding of Sonakshi Sinha with long-time beau Zaheer Iqbal. 

The wedding celebrations officially kicked off with the arrival of producer Ramesh Taurani's wedding gift for Zaheer -- a wine bottle accompanied by flowers.

Ahead of their wedding, Sonakshi and Zaheer hosted a private mehendi ceremony for family and friends. Sonakshi, known as Sona among friends, wore a stunning red and brown outfit, even as Zaheer's relatives welcomed her into Bandstand Building A, which is how the Iqbal residence is known.

The Sinha family home, Ramayana, was brightly lit up on Saturday evening in anticipation of the wedding.

As officially announced by Zaheer's father, Iqbal Ratansi, it will be a civil marriage, which will be followed by a celebratory party at the upper-crust Mumbai restaurant, Bastian, on Linking Road, Bandra West.

The restaurant, which is owned by Shilpa Shetty, is now helmed by the formerly New York-based Michelin-starred celebrity chef, Suvir Saran.

Sonakshi and the man she lovingly describes as her "personal psycho", Zaheer Iqbal, have been dating for the past seven years. It was Salman Khan, a friend of Zaheer's family and Sonakshi's 'Dabangg' co-star, who played Cupid, according to media reports.

It is said that the couple met when Zaheer was shooting for 'Notebook', the 2019 romantic drama produced by Salman Khan. Zaheer was making his debut in the film opposite another newbie, Pranutan Bahl, daughter of actor Mohnish Bahl, and granddaughter of Nutan.

Zaheer, the eldest child of leading Mumbai jeweller Iqbal Ratansi, acted opposite her in the critically panned 2022 film 'Double XL', where he plays a London-based TV line producer, Zorawar Rahmani.

The film, which also features Huma Qureshi, sees Sonakshi as fashion designer Sara Kapoor, who relocates to London from Delhi after a broken relationship.

Zaheer was last seen on the big screen in a special appearance with Salman's brother-in-law Aayush Sharma in the action film, Ruslaan, released earlier this year. Like 'Double XL', 'Ruslaan' also bombed at the box office.