Imran Khan, born Imran Pal, has worked as an actor in the Hindi film industry. He is also a social activist and filmmaker. Khan's father is a software engineer who studied at IIT Bombay, and his mother is a psychologist. His mother is the daughter of famous director-producer
Nasir Hussain, sister of
Mansoor Khan, and cousin of actor
Aamir Khan.
Khan studied at Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai and Blue Mountain School in Coonoor. He later followed his Principal to join Gurukul, a school in the jungles of Ooty. He then attended Fremont High School after he moved in with his father in Sunnyvale, California.
He aspired to become a film director and joined the New York Film Academy at the Los Angeles branch to earn a degree in filmmaking. He was inspired by the writer Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl and even ventured into advertising and market research after he completed his degree.
Khan then returned to Mumbai and joined the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute. His acting career started in 1988 as a child artist, playing the younger version of
Aamir Khan's character in the movie
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). He again appeared as a young
Aamir Khan in
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992).
While training at the Mumbai Academy, he met writer-director
Abbas Tyrewala and bagged his first movie. He made his debut with the romantic film
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008) alongside
Genelia Deshmukh. The movie was produced by
Aamir Khan, and he played the lead role of young college-going Jai 'Rats' Singh Rathore.
The film did well commercially, earning Rs.830 million (USD 10 million), and Khan got recognition from the masses and critics. He even won the 54th Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.
He then appeared in
Sanjay Gadhvi's thriller
Kidnap (2008), produced by
Dhilin Mehta. He starred alongside
Minissha Lamba and
Sanjay Dutt. While the movie was not a commercial success, Khan was appreciated for his strict performance.
He was then featured in
Luck (2009), also starring
Sanjay Dutt,
Shruti Haasan,
Mithun Chakraborty, and
Danny Denzongpa. The movie was directed by
Sohum Shah and was again produced by
Dhilin Mehta. In the movie, which was inspired by
Intacto (2001), he played the role of a young boy Ram Mehra, who desperately needed money, and would do anything for it.
In 2010, he was offered
I Hate Luv Storys (2010) by
Karan Johar. He plays the role of Jay Dhingra, a Casanova who doesn't believe in love. The movie was a commercial success, earning Rs. 725.2 million (USD 9.1 million) at the box office, and Khan's performance was applauded.
In 2010, he starred in another romantic comedy,
Break Ke Baad (2010), with
Deepika Padukone, which was directed by
Danish Aslam.
The following year, he played Tashi in the English black comedy movie
Delhi Belly (2011). He co-starred with
Kunaal Roy Kapur,
Poorna Jagannathan, and
Vir Das. The movie earned a domestic revenue of more than Rs. 550 million (USD 6.9 million), and Khan received critical acclaim for his performance.
In the same year, Khan appeared in
Ali Abbas Zafar's movie,
Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011), with
Ali Zafar, and
Katrina Kaif. This movie also turned out to be a success and earned more than Rs. 578 million (USD 7.2 million).
In 2012, he played architect Rahul Kapoor in
Shakun Batra's debut film
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012) alongside
Kareena Kapoor. The romantic comedy did well at the box office, earning approximately Rs. 530 million (USD 6.6 million).
Khan did three movies in 2013. The first one was
Vishal Bhardwaj's
Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013), with
Pankaj Kapur and
Anushka Sharma.
His next film was
Milan Luthria's sequel,
Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobara (2013), with
Akshay Kumar and
Sonakshi Sinha. His third movie that year was
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein! (2013) with
Kareena Kapoor.
After a gap year, he starred opposite
Kangana Ranaut in
Nikkhil Advani's
Katti Batti (2015). This movie marked his last release.
In 2018 he directed a short film,
Mission Mars: Keep Walking India (2018).
Besides movies, Khan was a part of
Eve Ensler's play, The Vagina Monologues, in 2009. The event was to raise funds for an acid-attack victim, Haseena Hussein.
He has also been featured in several advertisements like Coca-Cola, Bru, Levis, Maaza, and Lux.
He walked the ramp for the Mijwan Welfare Society, an NGO run by
Shabana Azmi to empower women
After a ten-year relationship, he married Avantika Malik in January 2011.