Sonam Khan (born Bakhtavar Khan; 2 September 1972)^[1] is an Indian actress and former model known for her work in Bollywood and Telugu cinema.^[2][3] She is the granddaughter of veteran actor Murad.^[3]

She was paired with most leading actors of the time like Govinda, Chunky Pandey, Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Chiranjeevi, Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Dutt, Raj Babbar, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Naseeruddin Shah. Some of her notable films are Vijay, Tridev, Mitti Aur Sona, Lashkar, Kroadh, Kodama Simham, Ajooba and Vishwatma. She appeared in over 35 films during 1987-1994.^[2]

Sonam was named Bakhtavar by her parents Mushir Khan and Talat Khan. "Sonam" is her screen-name, suggested by Yash Chopra. Her first release was the Telugu film Samrat opposite Ramesh Babu in 1987. She was launched in Bollywood by Yash Chopra in the 1988 film Vijay opposite Rishi Kapoor.

Sonam had nine releases in 1989. She shot to fame with the song "Oye Oye...Tirchi Topi Wale" from the film Tridev. Her sensitive performance in Mitti Aur Sona gained her appreciation.

Sonam had ten releases in 1990 including the box office hit Kroadh, her only Bengali film Mandiraand the Telugu super hit Kodama Simham opposite Chiranjeevi.

Her first release in 1991 was the multi-starrer Ajooba with Amitabh Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia and Rishi Kapoor, 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.

Post marriage, she featured in a few select movies like Baaz (1992) opposite Govinda, Police Wala opposite Chunky Pandey (1993) and Insaaf Apne Lahoo Se (1994) opposite Sanjay Dutt.

In 1991, Sonam married director Rajiv Rai, who had directed her in Tridev and Vishwatma. Rai was the son of film producer Gulshan Rai, founder of the banner Trimurti Films. She converted from Islam to Hinduism after marriage,^[4] quit acting and devoted herself to her family. Sonam and Rai had a son Gaurav Rai, who was diagnosed with autism at an early age.^[5][6] She has revealed in an interview that she spent most of her time traveling across the world for her son's treatment. ^[7]

Sonam and Rai initially lived in Los Angeles and then settled in Europe. However, the marriage deteriorated and they separated in 2001. Sonam and Rai got divorced officially In 2016, after 15 years of separation.^[8]

In November 2023, Sonam Khan made her first public appearance after three decades at the Jio World Plaza launch in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Khan resides in Mumbai with her son, Gaurav and is now gearing up to return to the silver screen.

• Sonam at IMDb
• Sonam at Bollywood Hungama