Early career (1951-1975) Khan got breakthrough as a child actor with his first film role at the age of 11 in the film
Nazneen in 1951. He also played small roles in
Ab Dilli Dur Nahin (1957) and
Maya (1961). He assisted
K. Asif during the making of the film
Love And God and had a brief appearance in the film. The film was left incomplete after Asif's death in 1971, and it was finally released in 1986. In 1973, he appeared in
Hindustan Ki Kasam in a small role which marked his debut as an adult.
Success with Sholay and subsequent works (1975-1992) In 1975, Khan received his first major breakthrough role as dacoit
Gabbar Singh in the film
Sholay. He was first offered the role by one of its writers,
Salim Khan. In preparation for the role, he read
Abhishapth Chambal, a book on
Chambal dacoits written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri (actress
Jaya Bhaduri's father).
Sholay went on to become an all time blockbuster and his portrayal of Gabbar Singh received critical acclaim. Khan later appeared as the character in a television advertisement which promoted biscuits for children. After the success of
Sholay, Khan continued to play negative and supporting character roles in many subsequent Hindi films in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s – superseding, in terms of popularity and demand, the earlier Indian actor,
Ajit. He often acted as villain opposite
Amitabh Bachchan as the hero. His role in
Inkaar was also presented in terrifying manner. He made his presence felt in films such as
Des Pardes,
Muqaddar Ka Sikandar,
Nastik,
Satte Pe Satta,
Chambal Ki Kasam,
Ganga Ki Saugandh,
Hum Kisise Kum Nahin and
Naseeb. Khan was also acclaimed for playing many unconventional roles. In the critically acclaimed film
Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977) (based on the novel of the same title), by
Munshi Premchand and directed by
Satyajit Ray, Khan played the helpless and deluded monarch
Wajid Ali Shah, whose kingdom,
Avadh, is being targeted by British colonialists from the
British East India Company. It is the only movie in which he dubbed a song. He also appeared in the
Gujarati film
Vir Mangdavalo (1976) directed by legendary director
Ramanand Sagar alongside notable actor
Arvind Trivedi. In 1979, he portrayed
Emperor Akbar in the film
Meera. He played many positive roles such as in
Yaarana (1981) and
Laawaris (1981) as Amitabh's friend and father respectively,
Rocky (1981) and
Commander (1981). In the
art film Utsav (1984), he portrayed
Vatsayana, the author of the
Kama Sutra. In 1988, he appeared in the
Merchant Ivory English film
The Perfect Murder as an underworld don. He excelled at playing comical characters in films such as
Qurbani (1980),
Love Story (1981) and
Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986). In 1986, he appeared in the
Tamil film
Vikram with
Kamal Hassan. In 1991, he reprised his role as Gabbar Singh in
Ramgarh Ke Sholay, a
parody of the legendary film which also included look-alikes of Dev Anand and Amitabh Bachchan. He continued working until his death in July 1992 and several of his completed films were released posthumously such as
Rudaali (1993),
Do Fantoosh (1994) and
Aatank (1996).
Directorial work He ventured into directing in the 1980s, writing, directing and starring in Adhura Aadmi (1982) (however it was never released) then he directed
Chor Police (1983) and
Ameer Aadmi Gareeb Aadmi (1985), both of the films did not do well at the box office. == Personal life and death ==