Sonam (actress)

Sonam Rai

Bakhtawar Murad Khan (Urdu: بختاور مراد خان ‎), better known by her screenname Sonam (born 2 September 1972, in India), is a former Bollywood actress and also appeared in Telugu Cinema. She is the niece of actor Raza Murad and great-niece of veteran actor Murad. Her cousin is actress Sanober Kabir.

Career

Sonam was named by her parents (Mushir Khan - father) as "Bakhtawar", which means "the lucky one" or "the fortunate one" in a number of languages in Asia. She renamed herself Sonam to have a milder sounding name to suit the Indian film industry. The name Sonam is of Tibetan origin and means "merit".

She first entered India's Hindi film industry Bollywood after being launched by Yash Chopra in the 1988 film Vijay. She shot to fame with the 1989 film Tridev. She was known for the song Oye Oye...Tirchi Topi Wale in the film which was very popular at the time. In 'Aakhri Ghulam' with 'Mithun Chakraborty. She was also recognized for her performance in Mitti Aur Sona. Earlier, she was known as a sex symbol. She married Rajiv Rai at the age of 19 and declared that she was quitting films. She appeared in over 30 films from 1988 through to 1994.

Personal life

After marrying Rajiv Rai, who had directed her in Tridev and Vishwatma in 1992 at the age of 19, she left the industry. Her father-in-law was the successful film producer Gulshan Rai. She had to leave India with Rajiv Rai in 1997, after an attempt was made on his life by the Mumbai organized crime leader Abu Salem. She is now settled with her husband in Switzerland. A son was born to her in May 1992 named Gaurav Rai. Rajiv still occasionally continues to direct Bollywood films.

Filmography

References

External links

• Sonam at the Internet Movie Database