Soha Ali Khan, the girl next door, has followed in the footsteps of Bipasha Bapu, Sherlyn Chopra, Mallika Sherawat and others by allowing those good people at Maxim magazine to do a spread showing a little more than her loyal fan base may be used to – and what a good job they’ve done of it too!
Soha has Bollywood and Glamour running through her veins instead of the usual blood so it’s not surprising that she is opting a slightly wilder new image and beginning to leave behind the good girl persona of her earlier movies. “I’d like to do something funny and maybe something a little dark,” she says, “I think I’ve been vulnerable often enough on screen. Now I’d like to tap other aspects of my personality.” Works for me, how about you?
Born in New Delhi, she is the daughter of former Indian cricket captain, the Nawab of Pataudi and 70s superstar Sharmila Tagore and is of course the sister of Saif Ali Khan. But you’d be mistaken if you thought Soha was just another beautiful Bollywood princess – this package comes with a razor-sharp brain as well. She is both a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford and also has a Masters in International Relations from the London School of Economics – this is pretty impressive! Before turning to the big screen, she worked for the Ford Foundation and Citibank.
It was Aamir Khan’s Rang De Basanti that shot Soha to worldwide fame, for which she won the IIFA Best Supporting Actress award. Impressive performances in Shaadi No.1, Ahista Ahista and Khoya Khoya Chand have helped to maintain the momentum. In 2008, she’s to be seen in Mumbai Cutting alongside Neetu Chandra and Tera Kya Hoga Johnny with KK Menon.
More recently, Soha ran into a little trouble when her gun licence was cancelled after her father, the Nawab, had allegedly used it to kill a black buck. She was apparently underage when she first applied for the licence but as she was unaware of the age restriction at the time, no action will be taken against her.
