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Do you know when you meet your soulmate? Mawra Hocane sure did! The actor revealed that when she met her now-husband Ameer Gilani for the first time in 2019, she saw light and felt something in her heart that she couldn’t quite put into words.

In a recent interview with Something Haute, Hocane revealed all about when she met Gilani and how they came to be together, as well as details of her wedding.

The couple met on the set of the show Sabaat, however, that wasn’t their first interaction. Hocane revealed that she and Gilani went to the same law school where he once paid for a bottle of water when she forgot to bring her wallet along. When the pair met on the set of Sabaat years later, she reminded him of the incident but he didn’t recall it, which left her rather surprised.

“You know how they say when you meet your soulmate you know? I knew. I didn’t know how to make sense of it because you’re meeting someone for the first time.”

She said that as an actor she was often rushed around and things moved quickly but when she walked onto the set, she saw Gilani praying in the corner and felt something in her heart. “You don’t suddenly know that what you’re feeling is meeting your soulmate, that would be bizarre but I felt something.”

Over the course of just a few days, the actor knew she wanted him to be in her life or someone who was exactly like him. Hocane said at that point in life she was very confused about who she wanted to marry, especially when she thought about raising children because she wanted someone with a similar belief system. In Gilani, she found someone who’s beliefs were so beautiful she wanted her future children to be like him.

Apparently, Hocane was more and more impressed with Gilani and his mannerisms every day and questioned what she was thinking because she saw him as the perfect guy but he didn’t vocalise the reciprocation of her feelings.

On the set of Sabaat, which Hocane said Gilani was very well-prepared for, “There was a general calmness in the air, but these things you can’t put into words. You just feel it and think there’s something right about what you’re feeling.”

She added that he didn’t talk too much and if there was someone who was “over-friendly” it was her, maintaining that she was attracted to his calm demeanour.

When the couple went to Kashmir to shoot the honeymoon scene for Sabaat, Hocane barely used her phone because she was “very engrossed in noticing him”. Everyone else, however, was worried about her lack of activity on social media.

The Jafaa actor clarified that the two were not romantically involved and joked that she wished they were. “I had a lot of clarity regarding him but I knew I couldn’t rush things. You don’t get something before time and more than is destined so you have to let things be — whether it’s a project or a relationship. By the time I met Ameer, I knew I had to let things be.”

Hocane revealed that she was also reluctant to pursue anything romantic because she did not want to lose Gilani as a friend since his advice and conversations were important to her, so much so that she credited her husband’s advice with shaping the trajectory of her career.

“His advice became essential and I didn’t want to meddle with that. I wanted to leave it up to Allah.”

‘It was his mother’

She found out that Gilani reciprocated her feelings “right at the end” when his mother unveiled the fact.

“She said, ‘No one understands my son better than me and the way he’s concerned for you all the time, I’m telling you these are his feelings he’s just not very expressive’. That’s when I relaxed a little that if she could see it, it must be there.”

However, there was no grand proposal in the mix even after Gilani’s feelings were out in the open. It was his mother who proposed and gave Hocane the ring because, according to his mother, “he couldn’t do anything”.

Talking about proposals Hocane said, “You think something else, see something else in movies, take inspiration from films about proposals, but his mother accepting me and giving me the love the way she did, the way she proposed to me and my family I think my parents’ eyes were sparkling.”

She detailed that she was close to both of Gilani’s parents and had friends in common with him, making her very comfortable in that circle. “Life was so wholesome that I did not want to question it. I did not want to know when or how things would be permanent.”

When Gilani went to the United States to pursue his master’s degree at Harvard, Hocane was concerned about him settling there and urged him to return. Ultimately, Neem, the couple’s next project together brought him back to Pakistan.

And Gilani brought luck with him to Hocane’s life, because when her Bollywood debut Sanam Teri Kasam was re-released, it was met with critical acclaim and shattered records at the box office.

She said that her producer called her from India and said that her husband had brought good luck, which Hocane agreed with.

Wedding festivities

When asked why her wedding was a secretive affair, Hocane maintained that it wasn’t a secret, just private.

“Whispers were ongoing since we didn’t even know we would be together so that did not bother us. We kept it private to keep it wholesome and wanted to share it with the world at a time when we felt comfortable.”

She added that the wedding was kept private so that the couple did not miss out on special moments with their family because of outside noise.

“We were very mindful that we wanted to enjoy it with our family members,” she said.

Hocane detailed that the couple didn’t have a long time between the dates being fixed and the actual events, all of which took place at familial homes. The nikah ceremony was at her parent’s house, the rukhsati was at her sister Urwa and her husband’s house, and the Valima was at Gilani’s family’s farm.

“It was very homey and we invited close friends and family. Your heart’s full when it’s your own people and it’s not up for display. In that very moment, you’re able to live that moment, I think it was an excellent way to do it.”

The actor said that if she had been asked a month ago she would’ve wanted to invite the whole world, but she now understood why it was better to keep it private and enjoy with loved ones.

“And then of course, the world can see.”

Wedding outfits

The nikah outfit was very special for Hocane because the dupatta was from her mother-in-law’s wedding. She took the piece to Rano’s Heirlooms because she trusted them to restore it. The fashion house created a matching wedding dress in just 28 days.

The jewellery for the event was Gilani’s grandmother’s. “In the moment [on the day] I realised how much it meant to me,” she said and hoped she could pass it on to her daughter or daughter-in-law.

The outfit, she said, made everyone at the ceremony emotional.

Her clothes for the main event were designed by Saniya Maskatiya and picked by Urwa, with the sisters making minor customisations such as a broach on the arm that read “Mawra and Ameer”. She said that the jewellery was selected years ago by her own mother while the headpiece was designed within a month to go with the whole look.

“When you get married you get to know how loved you are and I felt that with every person I worked with,” she said, adding that all the people involved in creating the looks kept it a secret out of respect for the couple.

For the valima, Hocane’s mother-in-law gave the jewellery, knowing that the bride’s outfit was ice blue. “I knew she was working on the jewellery but there was nothing I was worked up about. I knew it would all work out because when everyone has good intentions, things come together in the best way.”