Akhtar worked as an apprentice in film distribution and direction for
Yash Chopra's
Lamhe (1991) when he was 17 years old and later moved to an advertisement production house named "Script Shop" to spend an approximate 3 years there. He also assisted
Pankaj Parashar as a director in
Himalay Putra (1997) before launching himself into direction and writing.
Directing, writing and producing Akhtar made his writing and directorial debut with the critically acclaimed coming-of-age comedy-drama
Dil Chahta Hai (2001), produced by
Excel Entertainment, a production company he established along with
Ritesh Sidhwani in 1999. It was shot over a period of three months in
Sydney,
Goa and
Mumbai. Due to its acclaim, he called it a "turning point" in his career. The film dealt with the lives of
westernised urban youth in
Mumbai. Akhtar had written the script based on his trips to
Goa and
New York City, as well as a narration of a story outline by a friend of his, Kassim Jagmagia, who would eventually become a co-producer at Excel Entertainment in the future. It received international critical acclaim and attained an iconic status, with Akhtar receiving credit for starting a "new wave" in Indian cinema. Critic Ziya Us Salam praised Akhtar's direction and commented for
The Hindu: "In his maiden venture,
Javed Akhtar's son shows enough glimpses of his pedigree to indicate that promise will attain fulfilment sooner than later." Various award shows conferred accolades on the film and nominated it for several categories. The film won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi for 2002, in addition to the
Filmfare Award for Best Film (Critics). It was also screened at the
International Film Festival of India, the
Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the
Austin Film Festival. In the same year, he and his sister
Zoya Akhtar assisted their
father in writing the English lyrics of a song in
Lagaan, for which the soundtrack was scored by
A. R. Rahman. Akhtar's next project was the war drama
Lakshya (2004), a film about an aimless youngster finally setting a goal for himself, starring
Amitabh Bachchan,
Hrithik Roshan and
Preity Zinta. It was shot in
Ladakh,
Dehra Dun and
Mumbai, and marked the beginning of the collaborations between Akhtar and Roshan. He had to research the army before writing the script and directing the venture. The theme of the film, as stated by Akhtar, was about "finding oneself". He also believed that if the same characters and situation were set elsewhere, the main core of the story would remain the same as the film was not about war, as it had been reported. Parul Gupta of
The Times of India gave it a negative review and explained that "It's hard to reconcile to such triviality when it comes from Farhan Akhtar, considered the ultimate symbol of cool in Hindi filmdom." On the contrary, Manish Gajjar from
BBC wrote, in his positive review: "Young Farhan Akhtar, proves yet again that he is one of the finest directors
Bollywood has to date. He has paid full attention to the script and the technical aspects, giving rise to a polished product". Over the years, the film became a cult classic and was praised to be one of the best movies ever made. 20 years after Lakshya was released, Akhtar, in an interview, stated that the movie made a huge impact in motivating youth across India to join the
Indian Army. Meanwhile, Akhtar wrote the English lyrics of
Gurinder Chadha's
Hollywood film
Bride and Prejudice (2004), along with his sister,
Zoya Akhtar, after being recommended by his
father. The music for the film was composed by
Anu Malik and consisted of a mixture of
Hindi songs,
West Side Story,
Fiddler on the Roof and
Grease. In 2006, Akhtar directed, produced and wrote the screenplay of
Don starring
Shah Rukh Khan in the title role alongside
Priyanka Chopra, a remake of
Don (1978), starring
Amitabh Bachchan and
Zeenat Aman. It marked his first project holding the status of a remake. The character of
Don became iconic and popular. Despite this, he noted that he did not mean to be a "torchbearer of the remake brigade" and did not feel comfortable with being credited for the trend of remakes in the film industry. The film released on 20 October 2006 and was declared a "hit" at the box office, grossing around worldwide. The film was particularly noted for its dialogues. However, critics predominantly condemned Akhtar's direction and screenplay.
Taran Adarsh of
Bollywood Hungama said Akhtar had "climbed the ladder as far as craftsmanship is concerned [every frame is well decorated and makes a spellbinding impact] but despite a readymade classic at his disposal, the storyteller just doesn't get it right this time." In 2007, Akhtar produced the film
Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., directed by debutant
Reema Kagti and starring
Abhay Deol,
Minissha Lamba,
Shabana Azmi and
Boman Irani. The music for the film was composed by
Vishal–Shekhar, marking their first collaboration with him. Akhtar was supposed to make his acting debut with the film, but he had to be replaced by
Abhay Deol as he was involved with
Don. This was the first time Excel Entertainment collaborated with a different director as all their previous projects had been involving Akhtar as a director. The story of the film revolved around six couples who went to
Goa on a honeymoon. The film opened up on 23 February and received mixed reviews from critics, and ended up with an "average" box office result. In the same year, Akhtar directed
Positive, a film produced by Shernaz Italia and Frenzy Kodaiji, starring
Boman Irani and
Shabana Azmi. It was a short film running for 12 minutes. Dealing with a family's attitude towards a person suffering from
HIV-AIDS, the film was shot in
Mumbai and aimed at creating awareness about the problem. It also introduced
Arjun Mathur in the film industry. Speaking about the purpose of the project, Akhtar stated that "Just as a social stigma, many people believe that an
HIV patient should be isolated. They also have certain misconceptions about dealing with the disease. And since
India has a lot of joint families, it becomes very important for them to understand the value of support to the person who has acquired this disease. This is exactly what Positive talks about." The film had its background score composed by
Ram Sampath but had no soundtrack. It was a part of the "AIDS JaaGo" ("AIDS Awake"), a series of four short films, directed by
Mira Nair,
Santosh Sivan,
Vishal Bhardwaj and himself, in a joint initiative of
Mira Nair's
Mirabai Films, voluntary organisations
Avahan and the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Akhtar's first project in 2011 as a writer and producer was the
mystery thriller Game, directed by
Abhinay Deo. The lead cast consisted of
Abhishek Bachchan,
Kangana Ranaut,
Boman Irani and
Jimmy Shergill. The film received highly negative reviews post release, with critics panning almost all the aspects of it. At the box office, it had a poor opening, and later resulted in giving losses for the distributors, due to a heavily negative word-of-mouth. It was described as a "washout" by trade analysts. Later that year, Akhtar wrote, produced and directed
Don 2, a sequel to his previous venture
Don (2006). It marked his return to direction after a gap of nearly 5 years. His decision of making a sequel was explained by him in an interview: "I am wary of sequels having to be made. With
Don 2 I could finally make an action thriller the way I wanted to. Good story, classic action and simple plot which has one goal and work towards it effectively and dramatically." The film was a major success in
India and went on to become the year's highest-grossing
Bollywood production in overseas markets with a worldwide gross of . It received predominantly positive reviews from critics, with
Khalid Mohammed stating: "Throughout, you can't help feeling that Farhan Akhtar could have made three far more valuable films out of the budget squandered on this thriller where cars are smashed as if they were tea cups." In 2012, Akhtar produced and wrote the script of the
neo-noir thriller
Talaash: The Answer Lies Within. His production work was followed by the comedy films
Fukrey (2013),
Bangistan (2015) and
Fukrey Returns (2017), the time-travel romance
Baar Baar Dekho (2016) and the action film
Raees (2017). In 2024 he produced the film
Boong. In January 2026, it was nominated in the
Best Children's and Family Film category at the
79th British Academy Film Awards.
Acting and singing In 2008, Akhtar made his solo acting and singing debut in the musical drama
Rock On!!, for which he wrote the script and also produced. The film was directed by
Abhishek Kapoor, and co-starred
Prachi Desai,
Arjun Rampal and
Purab Kohli. As he had been learning guitar ever since the start of his directing career, he had been well-versed with it and used it for the film. He played the role of Aditya, the lead singer of the rock band "Magik". He sang five songs for the soundtrack album.
Rock On!! received critical acclaim upon release. Gaurav Malani of
The Economic Times wrote that the film seemed to be "clearly designed by Farhan Akhar as his own acting debut and he doesn't let himself down. Lending voice to all his songs helps him to get into his character with effortless ease. One could certainly overlook the lisp in his dialogue delivery." Manish Gajjar of
BBC wrote of his performance: "Director-turned-actor, Farhan Aktar surprises all with his superb, flawless performance, transforming from a hippy-style lead-singer to a subdued, dismal workaholic banker." Akhtar received several accolades for his debut performance. The film, in addition won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. However, it did not create an impact at the box office and turned out to be an "average" grosser. After refusing an offer to sing a song for
A. R. Rahman's album
Blue (2009), Akhtar acted in, and produced his sister
Zoya's directorial and written debut
Luck By Chance, alongside
Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead role. He was cast in the film after being deemed as a "perfect choice" for it. The story of the film revolved around a struggling actor who arrives in
Mumbai to become a
movie star. It was released on 30 January 2009. Though failing to do well at the box office and being declared a "flop", the film received widespread critical acclaim. Neil Genzlinger from
The New York Times said: "It is Mr. Akhtar whose understated performance holds together this far-ranging, cameo-filled film. He manages to remain sympathetic even while wreaking romantic havoc."
Rajeev Masand noted: "Farhan Akhtar delivers a simple-enough likeable performance that is just what the film required — no showy flourishes, no loud outbursts, just a straight off spontaneous act that works like a dream." Following
Luck By Chance, Akhtar acted in a film titled
The Fakir of Venice, which was initially scheduled to release before
Rock On!! and was supposed to be his acting debut. Due to several delays, it was premiered at the 2009
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. It was written and directed by Anand Surapur, and accepted by Akhtar after he described its script as "very powerful", while emphasising that it "touches upon weaknesses and confusions in all human beings". Before release, it premiered at the
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and the
Venice Film Festival at the
ArcLight Hollywood. Kirk Honeycutt of
The Hollywood Reporter praised the film and felt that "Akhtar, a producer, director and writer making his film debut here as an actor, is talented and handsome enough – and with looks that could translate into any number of ethnicities – to have a huge career ahead of him." Akhtar acted in, and produced his next film
Karthik Calling Karthik (2010), a psychological thriller directed by Vijay Lalwani. He played Karthik, an introvert, paired opposite
Deepika Padukone for the first time. Preparation for the role involved working on the
Rubik's Cube, which he learnt from the director. The film received mixed reviews, but Akhtar's performance received praise, with Sukanya Verma highlighting that "He conveys the anxiety, simplicity and frailty of Karthik even when the script isn't doing it for him. Perhaps it's his innate filmmaker instinct." The film had a good opening at the box office, as it was targeted towards the youth of the multiplexes. However, it failed to do well at the box office and became a "below average" grosser. promoting
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Akhtar produced and appeared as one of the three leads in his sister,
Zoya Akhtar's coming-of-age film
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara along with
Hrithik Roshan,
Abhay Deol,
Katrina Kaif and
Kalki Koechlin. He was also credited as the scriptwriter for the film. He was the first actor to be cast in the film, and described his role as a "fun character" and a "guy who for the longest time takes nothing seriously". His real life father,
Javed Akhtar wrote poetry for the film, which he performs as a
voice-over. His performance received widespread critical acclaim, with Shaikh Ayaz of
Rediff.com highlighting his lines as "gentle, they won't make you ROFL; they are more like tender dig in the ribs." Kaveree Bamzai of
India Today called his acting "sensitive, soulful", further saying that he was "perfectly capable of reading out his father's poetry." The film made worldwide and was declared a major commercial success at the box office. It also became one of the highest grossing
Bollywood films overseas, earning around US$7.25 million. It won two
National Awards for
Best Choreography and
Best Audiography. Following
Don 2, his next acting venture was the biopic
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), based on the Indian athlete
Milkha Singh, popularly known as 'the Flying Sikh'. His performance received critical acclaim and earned him the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor. He also had to prepare his looks to depict a 17-year-old
army recruit and endure an on-the-spot preparation at an army
cantonment. In 2014, Akhtar starred alongside
Vidya Balan in the
romantic comedy Shaadi Ke Side Effects directed by
Saket Chaudhary and produced by
Pritish Nandy. It was a sequel to
Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006). In 2015, Akhtar starred in his sister
Zoya Akhtar's
Dil Dhadakne Do, an ensemble family comedy-drama starring
Anil Kapoor,
Shefali Shah,
Priyanka Chopra,
Ranveer Singh and
Anushka Sharma. In 2016, Akhtar played the lead role of an
Anti-Terrorism Squad officer in
Bejoy Nambiar's
Wazir. It was his first action role as an actor, and for which he went through intense physical training and put on eight kilograms of weight.
Raja Sen in his review called him "pretty good [..] in the initial portions, but his performance starts to unravel once the film hits hysterical gear and he is required to do more than frown." Akhtar also sang the duet "Atrangi Yaari" with
Amitabh Bachchan for the flm. The film emerged as a box-office success. Akhtar's final release of the year was the
rock musical drama
Rock On 2, a sequel to
Rock On!! (2008). He reprised his role of Aditya Shroff, the lead singer of his band. The film was Akhtar's attempt to bring
Northeast India into popular culture. In 2017, Akhtar essayed the role of a
Dawood Ibrahim-alike mafia don Maqsood in
Daddy, co-starring
Arjun Rampal. His next release was the prison drama
Lucknow Central, co-starring
Diana Penty,
Gippy Grewal and
Deepak Dobriyal. The film was about a prison escape drama planned by a group of prisoners who also form a music band and was inspired by a real incident.
Lucknow Central was released on 15 September 2017 and met with mixed reviews and low financial returns. Akhtar's next release, the biographical drama
The Sky Is Pink (2019), co-starring Priyanka Chopra,
Zaira Wasim and
Rohit Saraf, premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival and received a 15-minute standing ovation from the audience at the
Roy Thomson Hall. The film received widespread critical acclaim, but failed to do well commercially. Akhtar received training for boxing for his next release
Toofan, a sports drama, directed by
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, which premiered on 21 May 2021 on
Amazon Prime Video. In February 2026 it was announced he would portray musician
Ravi Shankar in
The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, a biographical film series about
the Beatles directed by
Sam Mendes. == Other work ==