Sonam (actress)
Indian actress

Sonam Khan (born Bakhtawar Khan; 2 September 1972) is an Indian actress who is predominantly known for her work in Hindi as well as Telugu films. A granddaughter of actor Murad, she began her career with the Telugu film Samrat in 1987. She was launched in Hindi cinema by Yash Chopra in his directorial Vijay in 1988.
Sonam went on to star in several commercially successful films, including Tridev (1989), Mitti Aur Sona (1989), Kroadh (1990), Kodama Simham (1990), Ajooba (1991), Fateh (1991), and Vishwatma (1992).
Early life
Sonam was born as Bakhtawar Khan to her parents Mohammad Mushir Khan and Talat Khan. She is a granddaughter of actor Murad. Actor Raza Murad is Sonam's maternal uncle and actress Sanober Kabir is her cousin. Khan adopted the screen-name 'Sonam', which was suggested to her by filmmaker Yash Chopra.
Career
1987–1988: Debut and breakthrough
Her first release was the Telugu film Samrat, opposite Ramesh Babu, in the year 1987, which was a remake of the 1983 Hindi film Betaab. Yash Chopra launched Sonam in Hindi cinema with the 1988 ensemble film Vijay, in which she was paired opposite Rishi Kapoor.
The public source identifies “Sonam (actress)” as indian actress. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Sonam, actress and Indian.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7560776. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972, 1987, 1988 and 1989.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sonam (actress)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.