Sonam (actress)

Sonam was named by her parents (Mushir Khan - father and Talat Khan- Mother) as "Bakhtavar". "Sonam" is her screen-name, which was suggested by Yash Chopra to be more marketable in the Indian film industry. Her first release was the Telugu language movie Samrat opposite Ramesh Babu in 1987. She made her debut in the Bollywood industry after being launched by Yash Chopra in the 1988 film Vijay opposite Rishi Kapoor.

She had nine releases in 1989 and shot to fame that year with the film Tridev where the popular song Oye Oye...Tirchi Topi Wale was picturised on her and established her as a sex symbol.[1][2] She received critical acclaim in Mitti Aur Sona where she played a complex dual role of a college student who has to work odd jobs to sustain her livelihood.

Sonam had ten releases in 1990 including the box office hit Kroadh and her only Bengali language movie Mandira. She was also seen in the Telugu language super hit Kodama Simham opposite Chiranjeevi.

Her first release in 1991 was the multi-starrer Ajooba with Amitabh Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia and Rishi Kapoor. This was one of the most expensive films of its time. She had seven other releases that year of which Fateh opposite Sanjay Dutt did well at the box office.

In 1992, she collaborated for the third and last time with Naseeruddin Shah in the big budget Vishwatma which did well theatrically. Post her marriage, she appeared selectively and featured in movies like Baaz (1992) opposite Govinda, Police Wala opposite Chunky Pandey (1993) and Insaaf Apne Lahoo Se (1994) opposite Sanjay Dutt.