Sonakshi Sinha’s Bollywood debut in the 2010 hit ‘Dabangg’ remains a defining moment in her career, and the actress recently shared the unexpected and serendipitous way she landed the role.

In a candid conversation with Kareena Kapoor on the ‘What Women Want’ podcast, Sonakshi revealed that the opportunity came to her after a chance encounter at Amrita Arora’s wedding.

According to Sonakshi, it was Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan who first noticed her at the wedding, where she had recently shed a significant amount of weight. They were in the process of working on a film and thought she would be perfect for a role they were creating.

“I never took them seriously at first,” Sonakshi admitted. However, things quickly escalated when Salman and Arbaaz showed up at her home to narrate the script. “My whole family was there, and we all listened to them. They shook hands, nodded, and left. And before I knew it, I was on the ‘Dabangg’ set,” she explained.

Reflecting on the speed with which everything unfolded, Sonakshi described the experience as feeling almost like an arranged marriage. “It was so sudden for me,” she said in a previous interview. At the time, she was studying fashion designing and had just lost weight. “I was an overweight teenager, and nobody really asked me if I wanted to do the film. I was just told that I’m doing it.”

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Despite the whirlwind nature of the casting process, Sonakshi quickly embraced her new career. “Once I started working, I didn’t stop. There was no time to reflect on whether I should do things a certain way. It felt so natural, like it was meant to be,” she recalled.

‘Dabangg’, directed by Abhinav Singh Kashyap, turned out to be a career-defining project not just for Sonakshi, but also for the entire team. Starring Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, and Sonu Sood, the action-comedy became a massive success. It marked the beginning of Sonakshi’s enduring presence in the industry.

The film also introduced Arbaaz Khan as a producer. It had the soundtrack featuring the popular song “Munni Badnaam Hui” performed by Malaika Arora.