Aamir Khan filmography

Indian actor Aamir Khan first appeared on screen at the age of eight in a minor role in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973).^[1] In 1983, he acted in and worked as an assistant director on Paranoia, a short film directed by Aditya Bhattacharya,^[2] following which he assisted Hussain on two of his directorial ventures—Manzil Manzil (1984) and Zabardast (1985).^[2][3] As an adult, Khan's first acting project was a brief role in the 1984 experimental social drama Holi.^[4]

Khan's first leading role came opposite Juhi Chawla in the highly successful tragic romance Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988).^[5] His performance in the film and in the thriller Raakh (1989) earned him a National Film Award – Special Mention.^[6] He went on to establish himself with roles in several lucrative films of the 1990s, including the romantic drama Dil (1990), the comedy-drama Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), and the romance Raja Hindustani (1996).^[7][8] He also played against type in the Deepa Mehta-directed Canadian-Indian co-production Earth (1998).^[9] In 1999, Khan launched a production company, Aamir Khan Productions,^[10] whose first release Lagaan (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,^[11] and earned him the National Film Award for Best Popular Film.^[12][13] Also in 2001, he starred alongside Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna in the acclaimed coming-of-age drama Dil Chahta Hai.^[14] Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai are cited in the media as defining films of Hindi cinema.^[15][16] After a three-year hiatus, Khan portrayed the eponymous lead in Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), a period film that underperformed at the box office,^[17] after which he played leading roles in two top-grossing films of 2006—Fanaa and Rang De Basanti.^[18]

Khan made his directorial debut with Taare Zameen Par in 2007, a drama on dyslexia starring Darsheel Safary, in which Khan also played a supporting role.^[19] The film proved to be a critical and commercial success,^[10] winning him the National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare.^[20][21] Khan played a man with anterograde amnesia in the 2008 thriller Ghajini,^[22][23] after which he portrayed an engineering student in the comedy-drama 3 Idiots (2009),^[24] and a reclusive artist in the drama Dhobi Ghat (2010), which he also produced.^[25] During this period, Khan developed and featured as the host of the television talk show Satyamev Jayate (2012–2014).^[26]

Further success came when Khan played the antagonist of the adventure film Dhoom 3 (2013) and starred as the titular alien in the ₹7.4 billion (US$77 million)-grossing satire PK (2014).^[27][28][29] In 2016, Khan played the father of two young female wrestlers in the sports biopic Dangal, which earned over ₹20 billion (US$210 million) worldwide.^[30] Five of Khan's films—Ghajini, 3 Idiots, Dhoom 3, PK, and Dangal— have held records for being the highest-grossing Indian film of all time.^[31][30] Khan's two subsequent releases—the period adventure film Thugs of Hindostan (2018) and the Forrest Gump remake, Laal Singh Chaddha (2022)—emerged as box-office bombs.^[32] He made a comeback in 2025 with Sitaare Zameen Par which emerged a major commercial success.^[33]