Irfan Khan was born in Jaipur. He was studying for his M.A. degree when he earned a scholarship to study at National School of Drama (NSD) in 1984. He is married to writer Sutapa Sikdar who's also a NSD graduate & they have a son named Babil. After graduating he moved to Mumbai he acted in television serials & Theater. 

Theater & television kept him afloat till Mira Nair offered him a cameo in Salaam Bombay. But the role was edited out of the final copy. He continued to dabble in television making impacts on various soaps and tele-historicals series. After many years, things changed when London-based director Asif Kapadia gave him the lead in The Warrior an historical film completed in 11 weeks on the locals in Himachal Pradesh & Rajasthan. The Warrior stormed in international film festivals making Irrfan Khan a known face world over. 

He acted in Indian born writer-director, Asvin Kumar's short film, Road to Ladakh. After the film received rave reviews at international festivals the film is now being made into a full length feature again starring Irrfan Khan. That same year he played the title role in the critically acclaimed Maqbool an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. 

His first Bollywood main lead role came in film Rog. Thereafter he appeared in several films either playing the leading role or a supporting role as a villain. In 2004 he wins the Filmfare Best Villain Award for his role in film Haasil & filmfare award for supporting actor for box office hit Metro. 

The Namesake which was one of the biggest hits overseas closely followed by his appearance in the international films A Mighty Heart & The Darjeeling Limited. Even after becoming a successful actor in bollywood he has not severed his ties with television. He used to anchor a show Mano ya na mano' on Star One.