Somy Ali (; born 25 March 1976)Singh, Prashant (30 April 2012
Salman helps Somy Ali's charity foundation
''Hindustan Times'' is a Pakistani-American actress, writer, filmmaker, model and activist who has worked in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films. She runs a non-profit organization named No More Tears since 2007.

Early life and education

Ali was born on 25 March 1976, in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, Pakistan into a family of wealth and prosperity. Her mother Tehmina is Iraqi and her father Madad Ali Madan is Pakistani. After studying at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Karachi until age 9, she moved to

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with her mother and brother. During an interview, Ali revealed that she was sexually abused at the ages of 5 and 9 by her household staff while living in Karachi, Pakistan, and when she moved to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

at age 9, at 14, she was raped by a boy, 17, in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. Her mother was also a victim of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

in Pakistan that she and her brother would have to witness. After she dropped out of school, Ali convinced her father to allow her to move to the home of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India, at age 16 due to her inspiration from her teenage crush, Bollywood actor,

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...

. She was involved in modeling projects and also performed in Hindi movies while in Mumbai. She had ten appearances in

movies between 1991 and 1998, as a leading lady with top Bollywood actors. She moved back to Florida, and acquired her

GED Ged or GED may refer to: Places * Ged, Louisiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Ged, a village in Bichiwara Tehsil, Dungarpur District, Rajasthan, India * Delaware Coastal Airport, in Delaware, US, callsign GED People * Ged B ...

, and then attended

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a Private university, private research university in Florida with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida, Davie, Florida, United States. The university consists of 14 colleges, offering over ...

Davie, Florida Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States, approximately north of Miami. The town's population was 110,320 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Florida by population. Davie is a principal town of the Miami metropol ...

, where she majored in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, and obtained her undergraduate degree in two years. She also became very interested in journalism and documentary filmmaking. She then attended the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

to obtain a masters degrees in broadcast journalism, psychology and filmmaking. She went on to attend

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

. where she graduated to a degree in filmmaking, direction, screenwriting and editing. Her early projects included short films on abortion, domestic violence, and teenage suicide. She later attended the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Florida and obtained a certification in broadcast journalism in 2004.

Career

Ali became involved with women's rights issues in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. She works toward publicizing, bringing the plight of rape and domestic violence victims. Ali has written articles about rape victims Shazia Khalid, Sonia Naz and Mukhtaran Mai. "My goal is to help all of these women and make sure that every girl/woman in my country and universally can obtain an education and has her basic human rights," says Ali. Revenue from her Films in Bollywood and a t-shirt line, she initiated to sell in order to gain donations for her non-profit organization No More Tears, which was founded in 2007. In 2011, Ali was honored with the American Heritage Award from the

American Immigration Council The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), founded on October 14, 1946, is a voluntary bar association of over 15,000 attorneys and law professors who practice and teach immigration law. AILA member attorneys represent U.S. families see ...

for her work with No More Tears, The Daily Point of Light Award 15 April 2015, by President George H. W. Bush and The National Domestic Violence Month "A Proclamation" by President Barack Obama for her work with No More Tears.In 2013 Somy was the recipient of the L'Oreal Woman of Worth Award. In 2021, Ali and her non-profit organization No More Tears were featured in the

Discovery+ Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discov ...

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

''Fight or Flight''.

Personal Life

She was in a relationship with Bollywood superstar

for eight years from 1991 to 1999. In December 1999, she returned to

to continue her studies. In 2024, Ali revealed that her relationship with Khan had ended due to alleged infidelity.

Filmography

* '' Krishan Avtaar'' (1993) as Sonia Sawant * ''

Anth The ANTH domain is a membrane binding domain that shows weak specificity for PtdIns(4,5)P2. It was found in AP180 (homologous to CALM) endocytotic accessory protein that has been implicated in the formation of clathrin-coated pits. The domain is ...

'' (1994) as Priya * '' Yaar Gaddar'' (1994) as Shashi * '' Teesra Kaun?'' (1994) as Priyanka * ''

Aao Pyaar Karen Aao Pyaar Karen () is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Ravindra Peepat, starring Saif Ali Khan Somy Ali and Shilpa Shetty. It is a remake of the 1992 Tamil film '' Chembaruthi''. Plot Anjali Devi ( Bharati) is a ...

'' (1994) as Sonu Rai * '' Andolan'' (1995) as Anita * ''

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

'' (1996) as Kiran Pawar * ''

Chupp ''Chupp'' () is a 1997 Hindi-language thriller film, produced by Ramesh U Lakhiani, Keshav R Tolani under Kay Aar Films banner and directed by Ambrish Sangal. Starring Jeetendra, Om Puri, Somy Ali, Avinash Wadhavan and music composed by Prad ...

'' (1997) as Asha Narang

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Somy 1976 births Living people Actresses from Karachi Journalists from Karachi Pakistani emigrants to the United States Pakistani female models Pakistani film actresses Pakistani journalists Pakistani people of Iraqi descent Nova Southeastern University alumni University of Miami alumni University of Miami School of Communication alumni American film actresses American women journalists Convent of Jesus and Mary, Karachi alumni Actresses in Hindi cinema Pakistani expatriate actresses in India 20th-century Pakistani actresses 20th-century American actresses