Sonam Bajwaਸੋਨਮ ਬਾਜਵਾ

Early life

Sonampreet Bajwa was born on 16 August 1989 in Nainital, then in Uttar Pradesh and now in Uttarakhand, into a Punjabi Sikh family. She graduated from Delhi University, moved to Mumbai in 2012 and competed in the Femina Miss India contest. She then worked as an air hostess before quitting to pursue acting.

Growing up in Uttarakhand in a middle-class Punjabi Sikh family, Sonam Bajwa had no film connections — her parents were teachers, and she has a twin brother, Jaideep. Acting was not on the agenda; she has said she was even bullied as a child over her complexion. Delhi University gave her a degree, and the move to Mumbai in 2012 was a leap into the unknown. The Femina Miss India contest gave her visibility, and a stint as an air hostess paid the bills while she figured out her next step.

Career

Bajwa made her acting debut with the Punjabi film Best of Luck (2013) and her Tamil debut with Kappal (2014). She established herself as a leading lady of Punjabi cinema with a remarkable run: Punjab 1984 (2014), Sardaar Ji 2 (2016), Nikka Zaildar (2016), Manje Bistre (2017), Nikka Zaildar 2 (2017), Carry on Jatta 2 (2018), Guddiyan Patole (2019), Ardab Mutiyaran (2019) and Honsla Rakh (2021). She also debuted in Telugu cinema with Aatadukundam Raa (2016).

She won the PTC Punjabi Film Award for Best Actress for Ardab Mutiyaran and earned Filmfare Awards Punjabi Best Actress nominations for Manje Bistre and Nikka Zaildar 2. In 2025 she expanded into Hindi cinema with Housefull 5 and Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat, and she has hosted Dil Diyan Gallan on Zee Punjabi.

Best of Luck (2013) was a modest start, but Punjab 1984 (2014) — Anurag Singh's Partition-era drama — showed she could hold her own in serious cinema. What followed was one of the great commercial runs in Punjabi film history: Sardaar Ji 2, Nikka Zaildar, Manje Bistre, Carry on Jatta 2, Guddiyan Patole, Ardab Mutiyaran — hit after hit, often opposite the industry's biggest male stars, with Bajwa holding her own in every frame.

Ardab Mutiyaran (2019), in which she played a headstrong young woman, won her the PTC Best Actress award and remains her signature performance. The Tamil detour (Kappal) and Telugu debut (Aatadukundam Raa) showed ambition beyond Punjab, and the 2025 Hindi films Housefull 5 and Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat completed the crossover.

Major works

Punjab 1984, Ardab Mutiyaran, Carry on Jatta 2, Honsla Rakh and Nikka Zaildar 2 are her signature films; Kappal marked her Tamil debut.

Punjab 1984, Carry on Jatta 2, Ardab Mutiyaran, Honsla Rakh and the Nikka Zaildar films; Kappal (Tamil) and Housefull 5 (Hindi) mark her cross-industry range.

Personal life

Bajwa keeps her personal life private and is based in Mumbai.

Bajwa is famously private about her personal life. She is not related to actress Neeru Bajwa despite the shared surname — a confusion she has had to correct more than once. She is based in Mumbai.

Legacy

One of the highest-paid and most popular actresses of Punjabi cinema, Sonam Bajwa headlined the industry's biggest comedies and dramas through the 2010s and carried that stardom into Hindi films.

In an industry often built around male stars, Sonam Bajwa became one of Punjabi cinema's biggest box-office draws on her own terms — and one of its highest-paid actresses. Her journey from air hostess to leading lady is the industry's favourite self-made story.