Sana Khan

Early work and acting debut (2005–2009)

Khan made her acting debut in the 2005 low-budget adult Hindi film Yehi Hai High Society.^[15] In 2006, Khan made her Tamil film debut with E in an item number.^[7]

Khan has acted in over 50 ad films,^[2] including a cosmetic commercial directed by Shirish Kunder in July 2007.^[16] She has also done ads for the deodorant brand Secret Temptation, Yatra.com, and the Xbox 360 video game console.^[17]

In March 2007, Khan's TV commercial for the men's underwear brand Amul Macho showed her provocatively scrubbing and washing some underwear, simulating an orgasm.^[18] It created great controversy and was banned by the Indian government on the grounds of sexual profanity.^[19] The company rehired Khan, shot a sequel to the commercial with a different theme, and released it in February 2008.^[19]

In July 2007, Khan appeared in the film, Journey Bombay to Goa directed by Raj Pendurkar in an item number, "Lawani" sung by Sonu Kakkar.^[20] In November 2007, Khan appeared in the film Goal in the item number "Billo Rani" choreographed by Saroj Khan.^[21][22]

In January 2008, Khan appeared in the film Halla Bol.^[23][24] Khan's debut Tamil film Silambattam, produced by Lakshmi Movie Makers,^[2] was released in December 2008.^[25] Silambarasan, the film's lead actor, who had previously signed and then dropped her for a role in his film Kettavan, called her again for the female lead role in Silambattam after seeing her ad with Shah Rukh Khan.^[17][2] She played Janu, a talkative, tomboyish brahmin village girl,^[17] and won the 2009 ITFA Best New Actress Award in Singapore.^[26]

Further success and Bigg Boss (2010–2013)

In March 2010, her next Tamil film, Thambikku Indha Ooru, was released. Later that year, Khan ventured into the Telugu film industry, appearing in Nandamuri Kalyan Ram's Kalyanram Kathi, released in November 2010.^[27] Khan's next release was the February 2011 bilingual thriller titled Gaganam and Payanam – shot in Telugu and Tamil, respectively – which was based on an aircraft hijack theme.^[28][29]

In May 2011, Khan stepped into Kannada films with Golden Movies' Kool...Sakkath Hot Maga. In September 2011,^[30] her next Tamil film, Aayiram Vilakku, was released.^[7] In the March 2012 Telugu film Mr. Nookayya, Khan played a waitress in a pub, adding glamour to the film.^[31] Khan made her Malayalam film debut with Climax, loosely based on the Hindi film The Dirty Picture, playing the South Indian actress Silk Smitha.^[32][33][34]

In October 2012, Khan was a celebrity contestant in the sixth season of the Indian version of the reality TV show Big Brother, Bigg Boss.^[35] She gained a lot of popularity from the show and managed to stay in the show till the end, though she finished in third place.^[36]

Established actress and further success (2014–2019)

Khan played the daughter of Danny Denzongpa in the Bollywood film Jai Ho,^[37] released on 24 January 2014. In July 2014, Khan participated in the celebrity dance reality series, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 as a contestant. She entered as a wild card entrant and got eliminated later.^[38][39]

In January 2015, Khan participated in Bigg Boss Halla Bol, spin off of Bigg Boss 8 as one of the challengers.^[40] The spin-off series officially launched on 4 January,^[41] She got evicted in the second week.^[42] In February 2015, she participated in the celebrity stunt reality show, Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 6 as a contestant.^[43][44] The shoot of the series started in November 2014 and wrapped up a month later.^[45] Khan got eliminated in March 2015.^[46] In May 2015, Khan starred in a Punjabi music video song "Black Till" sung by Girik Aman and produced by Dr Zeus.^[47]

In 2016, she acted in the film Wajah Tum Ho^[48] opposite Sharman Joshi and Gurmeet Choudhary.^[49][50][51] The film was a flop at Box Office India. Her bold scenes with Gurmeet and Rajneesh Duggal in the film were much discussed after the trailer was released on YouTube. Khan did a special appearance in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha^[52][53] in which she was seen portraying Akshay Kumar's girlfriend.

Business ventures

Khan is the founder of two business ventures, "Face Spa by Sana Khan" and "Haya By Sana Khan". Also owns the "Hayat Welfare Foundation" with her husband, Anas Sayed.^[54]

Films

Television

Web series

Music videos