Saif Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and former India cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. His sisters are actress Soha Ali Khan and jewellery designer Saba Ali Khan. His grandfather, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, also played professional cricket.

Khan married actress Amrita Singh in October 1991 after meeting her while filming Bekhudi. They had two children, Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan, and separated in 2004. He married actress Kareena Kapoor in 2012, and they have two sons, Taimur Ali Khan and Jeh Ali Khan.

After his father's death in 2011, Khan took part in a symbolic pagri ceremony and became the head of the Pataudi family. The title Nawab of Pataudi is not an officially recognised royal title in India.

Khan began pursuing films after studying at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, Lockers Park School and Winchester College. Before entering the film industry, he worked for two months at an advertising firm in Delhi. An early project with director Anand Mahindroo was cancelled, while his first scheduled film, Bekhudi, was completed without him after he was replaced by Kamal Sadanah.

He made his released acting debut in Parampara in 1993 and won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for Aashiq Awara. His early successes included Yeh Dillagi and Main Khiladi Tu Anari, both released in 1994 and both featuring Akshay Kumar. A long run of commercially unsuccessful films followed during the mid and late 1990s, before Kachche Dhaage and Hum Saath-Saath Hain improved his prospects in 1999.

Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai became a major turning point in 2001. Khan played Sameer Mulchandani, one of three friends alongside Aamir Khan and Akshaye Khanna, and won the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role as well as supporting-actor awards from several other ceremonies.

Khan followed Dil Chahta Hai with the commercially successful Kal Ho Naa Ho in 2003, in which he played Rohit Patel opposite Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. His performance earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2004, he played the title character's namesake in Hum Tum, winning the National Film Award for Best Actor and another Filmfare award for a comic role.

His roles in Ek Hasina Thi, Parineeta and Being Cyrus showed a move beyond the romantic-comedy persona associated with his earlier work. He received particular critical acclaim for playing Ishwar “Langda” Tyagi, an adaptation of Iago, in Vishal Bhardwaj's Omkara in 2006. The performance won him awards for Best Performance in a Negative Role at the Filmfare, Screen, Zee Cine and IIFA ceremonies.

Other prominent films from this period included Salaam Namaste, Race, Love Aaj Kal and Cocktail. Love Aaj Kal, released in 2009, was the first film produced under his company Illuminati Films and featured him in dual roles opposite Deepika Padukone.

Khan established Illuminati Films in 2007 with producer Dinesh Vijan. The company produced Love Aaj Kal, Agent Vinod, Cocktail, Go Goa Gone, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil and Happy Ending. He later launched Black Knight Films, which produced Jawaani Jaaneman in 2020.

During the 2010s, Khan continued to choose roles in different genres, including the action films Race 2 and Phantom, the comedy Go Goa Gone, the romantic comedy Happy Ending and the historical drama Rangoon. For Laal Kaptaan, he learned sword-fighting and horse-riding and worked with a dialect coach for the role of a revenge-seeking sadhu.

Khan played Inspector Sartaj Singh in Sacred Games, Netflix's first original Indian series, during 2018 and 2019. He later appeared in Tanhaji, Jawaani Jaaneman, Tandav, Bunty Aur Babli 2, Bhoot Police and Vikram Vedha. His performance as the antagonist in Tanhaji earned him a second Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Khan expanded into Telugu cinema with the villainous role of Lankesh in Adipurush in 2023. He appeared in Devara: Part 1 in 2024 alongside N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and played a jewel thief in the 2025 Netflix film Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins, alongside Jaideep Ahlawat and Nikita Dutta.

In January 2025, Khan was stabbed multiple times during an attempted robbery at his Mumbai residence. He underwent surgery at Lilavati Hospital and was discharged after five days. Mumbai Police arrested Mohammad Shariful Islam Shahzad in connection with the case, while Shahzad later sought bail and claimed false implication.

Khan has co-hosted the Filmfare Awards with Shah Rukh Khan and performed on concert tours including Temptations 2004 and Heat 2006. He has also participated in charity concerts, a charity cricket match and fundraising activities connected with the Venu Eye Institute and Olympic Gold Quest.