4 min readMumbaiJun 21, 2026 12:37 PM IST
Sonam Khan shot to fame over 35 years ago, when she appeared alongside Naseeruddin Shah in the popular dance song “Oye Oye” from her ex-husband Rajiv Rai’s 1989 hit action thriller Tridev. However, she recently clarified on Instagram that contrary to some rumours that have floated around for almost four decades, she didn’t bag the song because she was dating the director. In fact, she revealed that they hadn’t begun dating each other before the film released.
‘Not having an affair’
Sonam took to her Instagram handle earlier this week to share a clip from “Oye Oye”. In the caption, the actor wrote, “I was not having an affair with my Tridev director.” She shut down the rumour that her affair with Rajiv Rai, which eventually resulted in them tying the knot in 1991, got her “more leverage than the other two leading ladies” — Madhuri Dixit and Sangeeta Bijlani, who were far more established actors back then. “Plot twist: Rajiv was on set with his girlfriend. I had a boyfriend parked not far away from the set either. We were both very taken people (monkey with closed eyes emoji),” added Sonam. She claimed that the hit song “just fell into my lap.”
‘Rajiv Rai didn’t want me in Tridev’
In fact, Sonam Khan revealed that her ex-husband Rajiv Rai didn’t even want to cast her in Tridev, initially. She claimed that he’d almost “sealed the deal” with another female actor because he didn’t approve of Sonam after watching her in the rushes of Yash Chopra’s 1988 action film Vijay, which served as Sonam’s debut film. “In fact, I was the last choice when he was left with no choice,” added Sonam. “So, no romance, no secret phone calls, no so-called director privilege, if that even exists. I don’t know, sorry for sounding naïve or delulu. Just me, a catchy song,” claimed Sonam.
Began dating Rajiv Rai ‘much after Tridev’
“It was much after Tridev released that Rajiv and I actually started dating, as we both were single and owed no one any explanations. So, my dearies, I got zero preference in the making of Tridev, Zero, zilch, nada,” concluded Sonam on Instagram. Actor Delnaaz Irani took to the comment section of Sonam’s post and posted applause emojis, only for her to respond with a red heart emoji.
Sonam Khan and Rajiv Rai’s love story
Sonam Khan was just 19 when she tied the knot with Rajiv Rai in 1991, who also directed her in the 1992 action thriller Vishwatma, where she played the love interest of Naseeruddin Shah yet again after the success of Tridev. She continued to act in movies for another three years, and became mother to a son, who was diagnosed with autism early on. She left acting soon after that.
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Sonam and Rajiv later moved to Los Angeles, London, and other parts of Europe to seek treatment for their son. However, the couple separated in 2001. Their divorce was finalised only in 2016, 15 years after their separation. Sonam has now returned to India, and lives with her son in Mumbai.
