Irrfan Khan is from a business family in Jaipur, India. His passion for acting got him a place in the National School of Drama, Delhi. Irrfan, who was still studying drama at NSD, was casted by Mira Nair in ‘Salaam Bombay’ for a cameo, but unfortunately the role got edited. However; that didn’t stop Irrfan’s passion for drama and he continued doing plays. One such play was aired on Doordarshan channel on seeing which Govind Nihalani offered Irrfan a role in his movie ‘Jazeere’- a movie which was based on the play ‘Little Eyolf’.

Irrfan Khan came to Mumbai in 1990 and Govind Nihalani gave him his first commercial break in ‘Drishti’ which gave the actor a chance to share the screen space with Dimple Kapadia and Shekhar Kapoor. Irrfan Khan has been juggling between television and cinema; on the small screen, he has acted in various serials like ‘Chanakya’ and ‘Banegi Apni Baat’ and in real time cinema he acted in Tapan Sinha’s ‘Ek Doctor Ki Maut’ opposite Pankaj Kapoor, Shabana Azmi and Deepa Sahi. Irrfan, who used to spell his name as ‘Irfan’, was advised to add an extra ‘r’, which seems to be doing wonders for his career.

Irrfan was signed by Mahesh Bhatt for ‘Kasoor’ and the movie got him in limelight and also helped him gain a permanent place in Bhatt camp. Irrfan Khan got married to another graduate from NSD, Sutapa Sikdar and the couple has a son named Babil. Irrfan even started producing shows for television like ‘Superhit Muqbala’, which become very popular.

In 2003, the actor bagged a role in Vishal Bhardawaj’s ‘Maqbool’, which was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ which gave the actor a chance to act with the veterans of NSD- Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. Maqbool got Irrfan the due recognition and appreciation, which went a long way as he signed his first commercial solo hero movie ‘Rog’.

Irrfan is regarded as an unconventional looking actor, but his talent got him a couple of mainstream projects like ‘7 1/2 Phere’ opposite Juhi Chawla, ‘Chocolate’ and ‘The Killer’. Irrfan Khan has also acted in Mira Nair’s ‘The Namesake’ and has delivered an award winning performance.

Irrfan is acting in an International movie ‘A Mighty Heart’ in which Angelina Jolie plays the lead. The movie is based on the life of Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl. Irrfan Khan– the avant-garde actor finally, managed to carve his niche in Bollywood.