Saif Ali Khan is an known for his work in Bollywood films.
He is the son of the cricket player and last titular Nawab of Pataudi, late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and actress Sharmila Tagore, a great-grandniece of poet Rabindranath Tagore.
Having made his acting debut in 1992 with Parampara, Khan had his first success with the 1994 films Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Yeh Dillagi.
After going through several years of decline throughout the 1990s, he rose into prominence with his performance in Dil Chahta Hai (2001), which marked his professional turning point.
His work in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Hum Tum (2004).
Khan subsequently had further mainstream success with films like Salaam Namaste (2005) and Race (2008) and starred in critically acclaimed projects such as Parineeta (2005), Being Cyrus and Omkara (2006).
In 2009, Khan branched out into film production with his company Illuminati Films's first film Love Aaj Kal which became a box-office success. These accomplishments have established him as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema.
He was awarded the Padma Shri civilian award by the Government of India in 2010.
Khan was married to actress Amrita Singh from 1991 to 2004, having two children together. His sister, Soha Ali Khan, is also a film actress.
In 1993, he won the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for Aashiq Awara. His breakthrough role came in 1994 with Yeh Dillagi starring opposite Kajol and Akshay Kumar which was his first major hit.
Khan went on to star in many films but they failed at the box office. He only had success with multi-starrer hits like Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Imtihaan (1995),Kachche Dhaage (1999) and Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United (1999).
After some box office failures he had a hit with the film Kya Kehna (2000).
His acting career, more or less, went through a relative slump until 2001, when he was cast in Farhan Akhtar's National Film Award-winning Dil Chahta Hai, co-starring Aamir Khan and Akshaye Khanna.
He has since had many box office successes, starting with Nikhil Advani's drama Kal Ho Na Ho (2003), co-starring alongside Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta.In early 2004, Khan was approached by Sriram Raghavan to star as the globetrotting bachelor, Karan Singh Rathod, in his directorial debut, Ek Hasina Thi.He followed it with the leading role in Kunal Kohli's romantic comedy Hum Tum.
Featured opposite Rani Mukerji, the film follows the encounters of the two main characters until they, after several years and various meetings, become friends and finally fall in love.
The film was received favourably by critics and became one of the year's most successful films, with a domestic box office of INR210 million (US$4.19 million).
