Sonakshi Sinha Reflects on Her Sudden Dabangg Debut: 'It Felt Like an Arranged Marriage'

Sonakshi Sinha, who made her Bollywood debut with the 2010 blockbuster Dabangg, recently opened up about the unexpected circumstances that led to her landing the role of Rajjo. In a conversation with Kareena Kapoor on the podcast What Women Want (Season 5), Sonakshi described the experience as being akin to “an arranged marriage setup.”

“Dabangg just happened. Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan saw me at Amrita Arora’s wedding. I had lost all the weight at that time. They told me they were writing something and thought I’d be perfect for the role. I never took them seriously,” she revealed.

Sonakshi shared that the turning point came when the Khan brothers visited her home to narrate the script.

They came to my house to narrate the script. My whole family sat and listened. They nodded, shook hands, and left. The next thing I knew, I was on the Dabangg set. It felt like an arranged marriage,” she added.

- Sonakshi Sinha

The actress had previously spoken about her surprise at entering the film industry, noting how quickly things unfolded. “At the time, I was studying fashion designing. I was an overweight teenager who had just lost weight. Nobody really asked me if I wanted to do the film; I was just told I was doing it. Everything happened so quickly. Once I started, I didn’t stop. The transition was so natural; it felt like it was meant to be,” she told PTI.

Dabangg, which premiered on September 10, 2010, became a massive success and marked the start of Sonakshi’s acting career. The film’s popularity led to two sequels, Dabangg 2 (2012) and Dabangg 3 (2019), further solidifying her position as a leading Bollywood actress.