Sonnalli A Sajnani on first Holi after wedding with Ashesh: Holi is our thing

Actor Sonnalli A Sajnani will be celebrating her first Holi after wedding with husband and Restauranteur-Hotelier Ashesh L Sajnani this year. Sharing her excitememt for her “favourite festival”, she says, “Holi is so important and special for Ashesh and I, because we are huge Holi fans. We are that big fans that we prefer Holi over Diwali, everyone has a favourite between these two festivals.”
The Anamika (2022) actor also tells us about her holiday with her then boyfriend Ashesh to Pushkar, where Holi is celebrated as a huge festival, “In fact, one of our first holidays together as a couple when we had just started dating was a special Holi trip when we went all the way to Pushkar to celebrate it. We have such fond memories of those days. I even got a little mobbed on the road so it was difficult to play, but it was so beautiful and special.”
However, due to her dates clashing with the festival this year, Sonnalli and Ashesh won’t be able to celebrate together. “Unfortunately, we will be apart during this Holi because I am travelling out of the country. I am going to miss it so much. We will celebrate separately. He will be in Bombay and I am going to be in Auckland. Holi is big there, I am trying my best to convince him to come along with me because it’s like our thing. I actually tried to change my dates so that I can be back by Holi, but that couldn’t happen. We will be celebrating with each other in spirit!” the 34-year-old shares, adding, “I am trying to convince him to come to where I am so that we can play it there. Keeping fingers crossed, he might just surprise me! Even if he doesn’t come there, I’m gonna make sure we do a little sagan once I am back. It’s a special one because it’s the first one after the wedding. Holi is our thing!”
Sonnalli is used to celebrating a crazy and wild Holi every year. “We used to do the Holi dehen earlier sometimes, it’s not a very integral part of our rituals. We used to do it during childhood, but abhi kaafi saal se toh nahi kiya hai. They (sasural) have a very set ritual. Ashesh wakes up and we go to his parents’ house. After they put colours on us and we put on them, then only Asheh and I put on each other, it’s the parents first always.” she says.
“We play a little bit with dry organic colours. Then we go to his extended relatives’ house, after which we play a slightly wilder Holi just the two of us, where we are fully covered. It is also our day to take out the Jeep on the road. He is a car enthusiast so he takes out his Thar, because it is a strong and huge car, we can have colours and water on it. We also have a lot of Thandai surely. I eat so much sugar on the day of Holi, specially jalebi and rabri. I keep eating food till evening.” Sonnalli further adds.
While she is not a fan of balloons, the actor believes in adding water to make it more fun. “I am not a balloon fan because it is a lot of plastic wasted and not environment friendly. Holi ke balloons toh no chance, because I think they hurt also. I love pichkaari, water colours, but not the permanent ones, just the herbal organic ones. Just with dry colours it’s not fun, water plays an important part,” she ends.