Irfan Khan was born in Rajasthan into a muslim family of pathan ancestry. Khan's mother Saeeda Begum khan was from Tonk district, and his father Yaseen Ali Khan was from the Khajuriya village in Rajasthan's Tonk district and they ran a tyre business. +He showed interest in acting in the influence of his maternal uncle who himself was a theatre artist. In Jaipur, Khan was introduced as noted theatre artist and did several stage performances in the city. + + +Khan completed his M.A. in Jaipur before joining National School of Drama in New Delhi in 1984 to study the course of acting.
After his graduation from NSD, Khan made his debut with Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay, where he was offered a minor role. However, his scenes did not make it to that point. He played many roles in Durdarshan. He was casted as an antagonist in 'Phycho killer' in the detail Darr. He also played the famous revolutionary, Urdu poet and Marxist political activist of India, Makhdoom Modiuddin in Kahkasah, produced by Ali Sardar Jafri. He acted in some episodes of Bestsellers. He also appeared in many serials throughout the year 1990s including Chanakya, Bharat Ek Khoj, and many more. +His first bollywood lead role came in 2005 with 'Rog'. It was his finest art or role played by him. One wrote that his eyes speak louder then him. Thereafter, he appeared in several films either playing the leading role or a role of villain. His performance was loved by audiences in both roles. In 2004 he won the Filmfare best villain award for his role in Haasil. He also played as an antagonist in Telugu films.
Irfan Khan married to a writer Sutapa Sikadar in February 1995. They had a love marriage. They have two sons Babul and Ayan. +In 2012, he changed the spelling of his from Irfan to Irrfan because he love to listen extra 'r' in his name. He removed Khan from his name because he wanted his work and not his lineage to define him. +After completing his MA from Jaipur. He went to Delhi to learn acting from NSD. In his early days in Mumbai, he took up a job as an air conditioner repair man and visited the home of his favourite actor or his inspiration Rajesh Khanna in 1984. Later in an interview Irrfan stated that there is no one who can copy Rajesh Khanna. He was the biggest and the most real star that bollywood got.
Khan played a police inspector in the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire for which he and the cast of the movie won screen Actors Guild Award for an outstanding performance by a cast in a motion pictures. About him, Damy Boyle said Irfan Khan was an extraordinary actor. He was in an instinctive way of finding the moral centre of any character so that in Slumdog. Irfan Khan did many international movie and episodes. Khan played Dr. Rajit Ratha in tha Amazing Spider Man in 2012. He acted in "Life of Pi" and was appreciated for his performance. His lead role in Paan Singh Tomar as the anonymous real life athlete turned dacoit, won him the National Film Award for best actor. in 2013 he starred in The Lunch Box which won the grand Rail'd or Cannes Film Festy and received a BAFIA nomination and because his highest grossing Hindi film to date. +He won many awards for his performance. In 2004 he won Best performance in negative role in Haasil. In 2007, he won award for the Best supporting acter male award and in 2008 he won award for the same. In 2013, he won three awards for Best Actor for Paan Singh Tomar and in 2014 he won Best Acter award for the Lunch Box. In 2018 he again won best actor award for the Hindi Medium.
In March 2018, Khan revealed via twitter that he had been suffering from neuroendocrine tumor. He sought treatment in the UK for a year and returned to India in February 2019. +He was admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital on 28th April 2020, where he started receiving treatment for a colonifection. His mother Saeeda Begum aged 93 has died four days prior in Jaipur. And in 29 April 2020 Irfan Khan died in the same hospital of Mumbai. +Film personalities and literary figure around the globe laid online tributes upon his death, because of coronavirus pandemic. Khan was buried at the Versova Kabristan in Mumbai and his last rites were performed by his sons.