Imran Khan was born Imran Pal, and he is a renowned actor in the Hindi film industry. He is also a social activist and filmmaker. His 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.
Imran Khan 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 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
