Sonya was born to Jehan-Rizvi family. She is granddaughter of Noor Jehan and Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. Jehan was born and grew up in Lahore, Pakistan to Pakistani father Akbar Hussain Rizvi and French mother Florence Rizvi.
She is the sister of actor Sikander Rizvi, granddaughter of singer Noor Jehan and producer Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, niece of singer Zille Huma and cousin of actor Ahmed Ali Butt.
She is also the owner of a French restaurant Cafe Flo in Karachi. Jehan had her early education in Pakistan, she did her O-levels from Centre of Advanced Studies and she did her A-Levels from The Lyceum School. She received a degree in design from Central Street Martins College of Art and Design.
Jehan made her film debut with the romantic historic film Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story in 2005 opposite Kabir Bedi.
Jehan played the role of Mumtaz Mahal, who is betrayed by the film"s central character. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and was moderately successful at the box office.
However, Jehan"s performance was praised by film critics. Jehan"s second release, was Sudhir Mishra"s romantic drama Khoya Khoya Chand with Shiney Ahuja.
The film revolves around the lifestyle of celebrities with aplomb with the 1950s film industry as its backdrop.
The film received positive reviews from critics, and Jehan earned critical acclaim for her performance. The film set in America received positive feedback from critics and her performance was praised in particular. The film was the most expensive Bollywood film of 2010 and also the highest-value buy over for any Indian film, surpassing the previous record of INR900 million (United States$14 million) and was declared as the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2010.
In addition to acting in films, she is also the owner of one of Karachi"s French restaurants, Cafe Flo.
Jehan made her Hollywood debut with Mira Nair political thriller drama film The Reluctant Fundamentalist, based on the 2007 novel, same name by Mohsin Hamid. Jehan played role of professor Nadia, alongside Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson and Meesha Shafi.
Her performance was critically praised. The film was critically and commercially successful and earned $2,028,731.
