Sonam Khan (born Bakhtavar Khan 2 September 1972) is an Indian actress and former model known for her works in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

, and

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

. She is the niece of actor

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who appears primarily in Hindi films. He has over 250 Bollywood film credits. Murad has also appeared in Bhojpuri and other regional-language films and on Hindi television. Early life He ...

and granddaughter of veteran actor Murad. She was paired with actors such as Chunky Pandey,

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some film ...

, and

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare ...

. Some of her notable films include ''

Mitti Aur Sona ''Mitti Aur Sona'' (transl. ''Clay and Gold'') is a 1989 Indian Bollywood action film directed by Shiv Kumar and produced by Pahlaj Nihalani. The film stars Chunky Pandey, Sonam, Neelam in lead roles. Plot Vijay (Chunky Pandey) is from a we ...

'', ''

Aakhri Ghulam ''Aakhri Ghulam'' is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Shibu Mitra. It stars Mithun Chakraborty, Sonam in lead roles, along with Moushumi Chatterjee, Raj Babbar, Raza Murad, Ranjeet, Shakti Kapoor, Anupam Kher in other importa ...

'', '' Lashkar'', ''

Kroadh ''Kroadh'' () is a 1990 Indian Bollywood action film directed by Shashilal K. Nair. It stars Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Amrita Singh, Sonam in pivotal roles. Plot Inspector Vikram Shukla ( Anupam Kher) lives a middle-class lifestyle in Madhavp ...

'', ''

Kodama Simham ''Kodama Simham'' () is a 1990 Indian Telugu-language revisionist western action film directed by K. Murali Mohana Rao, starring Chiranjeevi, Mohan Babu, Sonam, Radha, and Pran in pivotal roles. The film was simultaneously dubbed into Englis ...

'', '' Ajooba'' and ''

Vishwatma ''Vishwatma'' is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language thriller film directed by Rajiv Rai and produced by Gulshan Rai. It stars an ensemble cast of Sunny Deol, Naseeruddin Shah, Chunky Pandey, Divya Bharti (in her major Hindi debut), Sonam, Jyostna ...

''. She appeared in over 30 films during 1988 through to 1994.

Career

Sonam was named by her parents (Mushir Khan - father and Talat Khan- Mother) as "Bakhtavar". "Sonam" is her screen-name, which is reportedly coined by

Yash Chopra Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian film director and film producer who worked in Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chopra was the recipient of ...

to be more marketable in the Indian film industry. She first entered into the

industry after being launched by

in the 1988 film '' Vijay''. She shot to fame with the 1989 film ''

Tridev ''Tridev'' () is a 1989 Indian action thriller film directed by Rajiv Rai. It stars Sunny Deol, Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit, Sangeeta Bijlani, Sonam, Anupam Kher and Amrish Puri. The film was critically and commerciall ...

'' where the popular song ''Oye Oye...Tirchi Topi Wale'' was picturised on her and established her as a

sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive. Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor t ...

Personal life

In 1991, Sonam married director Rajiv Rai, who had directed her in two very successful films, ''

'' and ''

.'' Rajiv was the son of successful film producer Gulshan Rai, founder of the banner Trimurti Films.https://www.lokmattimes.com/photos/entertainment/did-you-know-tridev-actress-sonam-left-bollywood-due-to-underworld-threat/ Whereas Sonam was a Muslim, Rajiv and his family were Hindus from Punjab. After marriage, Sonam quit acting and devoted herself to her family. The couple soon had a son, Gaurav Rai. However they later divorced. During the period when bollywood was in the grip of the underworld mafia, Sonam came under pressure from gangster

Abu Salem Abu Salem ( ; born Abu Salem Abdul Qayoom Ansari), also known as Aqil Ahmed Azmi and Abu Samaan, is an Indian criminal gangster and terrorist In 1997, she had to leave India with her husband and son after an attempt was made on her husband's life by gunmen working for

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

leader

Abu Salem Abu Salem ( ; born Abu Salem Abdul Qayoom Ansari), also known as Aqil Ahmed Azmi and Abu Samaan, is an Indian criminal gangster and terrorist Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and then settled in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

for nearly two decades. However, the marriage deteriorated because of the troubles being faced by them from the underworld, and professional frustrations which both of them underwent because they could not pursue their respective careers in India. In 2016, after 15 years of separation, Sonam and Rajiv Rai finally divorced.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonam 1972 births Living people Actresses in Telugu cinema Indian female models Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian expatriates in the United States Actresses from Mumbai 20th-century Indian actresses