Career
She is the niece of actor Raza Murad and great-niece of veteran actor Murad. Her cousin is actress Sanober Kabir. 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 into the Bollywood industry 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 appeared in over 30 films from 1988 through to 1994.