Does any of the 90’s kid remember yesteryear actress Sonam of Oye Oye song fame? Well, the actress was away from the limelight for many years, post her wedding. However, she hit the headlines in 2017 after she had tied the knot again when her son from the previous marriage was 23 years old. The yesteryear actress, Sonam aka Bakhtavar Khan tied the knot with her friend, Dr. Murali Poduval after her divorce from her first husband Rajiv Rai, 'Tridev' filmmaker.
Sonam met Murali in Puducherry and soon the two fell in love and decided to tie the knot. The couple had an intimate nikaah ceremony on April 14, 2017 in Ooty. Murali, just like his better half (Sonam) is also a divorcee and a businessman by profession.
Talking about how she met Murali, Sonam said:
“I met him in Pondicherry and we became friends. He supported me during the course of my divorce (with Tridev filmmaker Rajiv Rai) and later we fell in love with each other. My son Gaurav is also very fond of him.”
So, does her ex-husband, Rajiv know about this new development in her life? Sonam said:
“I’m not in touch with him, but I’m sure he knows. I don’t want to comment anymore as it’s in a personal space and I only want to speak about the happiness that I’m feeling now.”
Talking about her wedding, Sonam said:
“Right now, I’m enjoying love and honeymooning.”
Sonam was earlier married to a famous director, Rajiv Rai who is known for movies like Tridev and Vishwatma. Sonam and Rajiv fell in love while working together in Tridev. After dating for 3 years, the ex-couple tied the knot on January 21, 1991. They also have a 23-year-old son named, Gaurav Rai.
She was at the peak of her career when she got married. As Rajiv was not in a favour of his wife working in the films, the diva bid goodbye to her career. After the birth of their son, Sonam and Rajiv shifted to Los Angeles and finally settled in Switzerland.
As her son grew, she was keen on making a comeback, but Rajiv was against it. Soon their marriage hit a rough patch and after being in a meaningless relationship for 15 long years (they were together for the betterment of their son), the couple got divorced last year, after 25 years of marriage.
The couple was living separately since 2011 and mutually decided to part ways. At the time of their divorce, Rajiv said:
“We decided to go in for a legal separation in June last year. The petition for divorce by mutual consent was filed on January 21 this year. Sonam and I didn’t have a showdown or argument. We’ve never had any verbal disagreements over this decision. There is no specific reason why things didn’t work out for us. We were trying hard to make our marriage work but somewhere along the way it collapsed. It isn’t anyone’s fault.”
Rajiv further added:
“In these 15 years, we went for holidays together where we stayed in separate rooms. We’ve traveled to different parts of the world for our son’s education. Sonam and I held on to this marriage for so long, as we were waiting for our son to turn 18. He is 23 today and has accepted our decision with a lot of maturity. Had he vetoed it, we wouldn’t have gone ahead with it. Instead, he said that both of us have every right to live our individual lives. The doors of both our houses are open for him, and it is up to him to decide who he wants to stay with. In fact, right now he is working with my production house. She has been a good wife and mother, and I have no complaints. Don’t be surprised if you spot us in a restaurant having lunch together.”
Now that Sonam is happily settled in her personal life, she is planning a comeback in Bollywood and we are excited! Our heartiest congratulations to Sonam and her hubby, Murali. May they have a blessed married life ahead!