Farhan Akhtar (born 9 January 1974) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, playback singer, producer, and television host who works in Hindi films. Born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, he grew up under the influence of the Indian film industry.

Akhtar, after establishing a production company named Excel Entertainment along with Ritesh Sidhwani in 1999, made his directorial debut with Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and received critical acclaim for portraying modern youth in the film, which won the National Award for Best Hindi Film. Following this, he directed the cult war film Lakshya (2004) and had his Hollywood debut through the soundtrack of Bride and Prejudice (2004), for which he and sister Zoya Akhtar served as lyricists. Next came the commercially successful Don (2006), his third directorial venture, post which he directed a short film titled Positive (2007) to spread awareness on HIV-AIDS.

Although he initiated his acting career with a delayed release in the drama The Fakir of Venice, Akhtar's official screen debut came with the musical drama Rock On!! (2008) for which he won a second National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi as producer, he wrote the dialogues and produced for the critical and commercial success Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) which won him the Best Supporting Actor; the same year, he directed a sequel to Don titled Don 2 (2011), which remains his highest-grossing film till date.

Akhtar then played Milkha Singh in the biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, earning him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Later, he received praise for starring in the ensemble comedy drama Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) and the crime thriller Wazir (2016). He has since headlined the prison drama Lucknow Central (2017), The Sky Is Pink (2019) and Toofaan (2021).