Sonakshi Sinha
Sonakshi SinhaVarinder Chawla

Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha, who made her debut in the industry opposite Salman Khan in "Dabangg," turns 29 on June 2. The diva is currently on a vacation in New York and has announced her upcoming project, "Noor," which will be helmed by Sunhil Sippy.

The actress was born in 1987 to actors Shatrughan Sinha and Poonam Sinha, and has twin brothers, Luv Sinha and Kush Sinha. Sonakshi, who was last seen in "Tevar" opposite Arjun Kapoor, has almost finished the shooting of her next films — "Akira" and "Force 2." These two will be released this year.

Also, she recently gave a nod to Shah Rukh Khan's production house's film, which is a remake of "Ittefaq," opposite Sidharth Mahotra. Sonakshi will be seen in Vipul Shah's "Namastey England" opposite Akshay Kumar.

The actress has shared her first look from the film "Noor" as a pre-birthday treat to fans. In "Noor," a film based on writer Saba Imtiaz's 2014 novel, "Karachi, You're Killing Me," Sonakshi will play a journalist named Noor Roy Chaudhary 

Meanwhile, check out some interesting and lesser known facts about the birthday girl:

  • For her debut role as a villager in Salman's movie, Sonakshi had to reduce around 30kg of weight to get into the skin of her character. The transformation took two years.
  • Salman turned Sonakshi's mentor in Bollywood and in return the actress reportedly donated her first film's remuneration to Salman's NGO "Being Human."
  • Sonakshi always carries a pair of extra clothes because she is paranoid about having a wardrobe malfunction.
  • She had four releases in 2014 —"Lootera," "Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara," "Bullett Raja" and "R... Rajkumar" — but not all of them impressed the audience. She was also seen in cameo roles in "Himmatwala" and "Boss" the same year.
  • It's not only Sonam Kapoor who has a good fashion sense. Sonakshi is a fashion designing graduate from Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University in Mumbai.
  • Sonakshi began her career as a costume designer for the film "Mera Dil Leke Dekho" in 2005. Also, interestingly, Sona was a model before making her acting debut in Salman Khan-starrer "Dabangg." She had walked on the ramp for Lakme Fashion Week in 2008 and 2009.

Check out the slideshow for rare photos of Sonakshi here: