Khan made his film debut with a small role in "Salaam Bombay!" (1988), which was followed by years of struggle. He acted in a few Film and Television Institute of India student films such as "Reconnaissance" (1990), which was directed by Sandeep Chattopadhyay. After starring in the British film "The Warrior" (2001), he had his breakthrough with starring roles in the dramas "Haasil" (2003) and "Maqbool" (2004). He went on to gain critical acclaim for his roles in "The Namesake" (2006) for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male, "Life in a... Metro" (2007), and "Paan Singh Tomar" (2011). For portraying the title character in the last of these, he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. Further success came for his starring roles in "The Lunchbox" (2013), "Piku" (2015), and "Talvar" (2015) and he had supporting roles in the Hollywood films "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012), "Life of Pi" (2012), "Jurassic World" (2015), and "Inferno" (2016). His other notable roles were in "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008), "New York" (2009), "Haider" (2014), and "Gunday" (2014), and the television series "In Treatment" (2010). His highest-grossing Hindi film release came with the comedy-drama "Hindi Medium" (2017), and his final film appearance was in its sequel "Angrezi Medium" (2020). The two performances won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 2018 and 2021.