Bride-to-be Guneet Monga: I’m still being a producer working on producing my wedding

“It is like making five films in one go,” quips producer Guneet Monga while describing the preparation process of her upcoming wedding with entrepreneur Sunny Kapoor. And she’s loving it all as she’s sure it’ll turn out to be a “blockbuster affair”. The producer is set to marry Kapoor in Mumbai on December 12, which will be followed by extended functions in Delhi.

“I’ve manifested a very filmy form in my life, so I’m very excited. We orchestrated a wedding for his grandmother before, so people are confused if we’re married or not. I just know that we belong to each other,” she shares adding, “They (groom’s side) are from Chandni Chowk. We had a very long conversation ke shaadi kahan hogi as all our relatives are from Punjab, Bhopal, Delhi or Mumbai. For me, Mumbai has given me a home even though I was born and brought up in Delhi. I call Mumbai my karam bhumi as it gave me an identity.”

The 39-year-old bride-to-be further adds, “Since I am way too filmy, I said, ‘Aapko doli toh mere ghar se hi le kar jaani padegi’. That’s how Mumbai was decided. I’d have felt very displaced agar kahin aur hota toh. There are pre-wedding functions in Mumbai, and then a reception and a function to welcome the bride in Delhi.”

Asked if the bridezilla mode is already on, Monga says more than her, the sisters in the family are in “sisterzilla” mode. “They are more protective about me. I’m having a blast. It’s exhausting. Hota hai na koi time off miley to pamper myself. Aisa koi time nahi mil raha hai. I’m still being a producer that I’m still producing the whole wedding,” she laughs.

In fact, she’s confused how her version of intimate wedding turned into an affair of over six functions. “It has turned out to be a big fat Punjabi wedding. I can’t believe it and I’m in shock ke yeh kaise ho gaya. You’ll see this is my version of intimate. It’s turning out to be a full blockbuster affair.”

Monga met Kapoor through a dating app when she had lost hope of finding her soulmate. And now, she proudly exclaims: “Sunny is the manifestation of everything” she wanted in life.

“I wanted a family, being the only child and not having my own set of grandparents and my set of parents. That got completed with Sunny. There’s a picture of Sunny and me with his parents where we are holding photos of my parents from the engagement. That’s everything in life,” says the Oscar-winning producer, who lost her parents when she was 23.

Describing her love story, she picks a dialogue from the film Lunchbox: ‘Sometimes the wrong train takes you to the right station’.

“I was signed up in every wedding marriage bureau, and was in conversation with various people (potential grooms) because I thought this is the way to go. I was like dating app se nahi hoga. Then I met Sunny on one dating app on a random night. I actually told him that I hope we had met earlier, and that I’m registered at a bureau. My friends made a profile. I saved his name on the phone as ‘Sunny wrong train’, and he saved it as ‘World Famous Monga’. Because my friends had described me on the app like that,” she laughs, revealing that while she has changed the name to Sunny with heart emoji, he hasn’t yet.

That’s not it. Monga further and reveals a Shah Rukh Khan connection in their love story. “Sunny’s real name is Sunil Kapoor. I’m a big fan of Shah Rukh Khan, and his name was Sunil in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, which is my favourite film. I keep telling everyone that while people were looking for their Raj, I found my Sunil,” she smiles.

Opening up about her decision to get married, Monga admits at one point she had lost all hope that she would find someone. “I had never thought that it would happen with me.. But, with Sunny, it didn’t happen in the first meeting. We chatted for two months because it was during the second lockdown. We chatted as friends because I was so clear that I’ll meet someone through the marriage bureau. When I met him the second time, we just knew,” she wraps up.