About Me

Somy Ali, born 25 March 1976, is a Pakistani-American actress, writer, filmmaker, model, and activist who has worked in countless Bollywood feature films as a leading heroine. Additionally, after finishing her education in 2007, Somy initiated and continues to run a non-profit organization named No More Tears. No More Tears’ mission is to rescue and empower victims of human trafficking and domestic violence. In the 17 years, Somy has been hands-on with law enforcement and saved 47,000 children, women, men, and members of the LGBTQ Community.

Somy’s mother is originally from Iraq and her father was born in India. Both her parents migrated to Pakistan when they were quite young. Somy was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and attended the Convent of Jesus and Mary School, till age 9. Somy then moved to South Florida in the United States with her mother and her younger brother.

During an interview, Somy revealed that she was sexually abused at the ages of 5 and 9 by her household staff while living in Karachi, Pakistan and when she moved to Florida, she was bullied at school and raped by a boy, 17, when she was 14 years old in Miami. Her mother was also a victim of domestic violence in Pakistan that she and her brother would have to witness.

Somy dropped out of school at age 16 and, convinced her father to allow her to move to visit Mumbai, India, to pursue her teenage crush, Bollywood actor, Salman Khan. She was involved in several modeling projects and performed in Hindi movies while in Mumbai. She had 14 lead roles with the biggest stars of Bollywood between 1991 and 1999. She was in a relationship with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan for eight years from 1991 to 1999. In December 1999, she returned to South Florida to continue her studies.

When she moved back to Florida, Somy acquired her GED and then attended Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida, where she majored in psychology and obtained her undergraduate degree in two years. She also became very interested in broadcast journalism, psychology, and documentary filmmaking and decided to attend the University of Miami to obtain a master's in all those subjects. She attended the New York Film Academy where she graduated with a degree in filmmaking, direction, screenwriting, and editing. Her early projects included short films on abortion, domestic violence, and teenage suicide. She later attended the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Florida and obtained a certification in broadcast journalism in 2004.

Somy became involved with women's rights issues in South Asia. She works toward publicizing, bringing the plight of rape and domestic violence victims. Ali has written articles about rape victims Shazia Khalid, Sonia Naz, and Mukhtaran Mai. "My goal is to help all of these children, women, men, and make sure that they all have a way to escape any kind of violence through my nonprofit."

In 2011, Ali was honored with the American Heritage Award from the American Immigration Council for her work with No More Tears, The Daily Point of Light Award April 15, 2015, by President George H. W. Bush and The National Domestic Violence Month "A Proclamation" by President Barack Obama for her work with No More Tears. In 2013 Somy was the recipient of the L'Oreal Woman of Worth Award.

In 2021, Ali and her non-profit organization No More Tears were featured in the Discovery+docuseries Fight or Flight.

In 2024, Somy was selected as one of the 100 most successful businesswomen by Forbes and Fortune magazines.