Born to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, he established the production company Excel Entertainment, along with Ritesh Sidhwani, in 1999.

[7] Akhtar's family hails from Khairabad in the Avadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, and he comes from a long lineage of Urdu poets.

[23] 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.

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.

[33] 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.

[34] 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.

[37] 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.

"[38] 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.

[40] 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.

[42] 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.

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.

Ltd., directed by debutant Reema Kagti and starring Abhay Deol, Minissha Lamba, Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani.

[citation needed] The film opened up on 23 February and received mixed reviews from critics,[52] and ended up with an "average" box office result.

[53] In the same year, Akhtar directed Positive, a film produced by Shernaz Italia and Frenzy Kodaiji, starring Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi.

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.

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.

[58] 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.

[62] It received predominantly positive reviews from critics,[citation needed] 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.

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.

[71] After refusing an offer to sing a song for A. R. Rahman's album Blue (2009),[72] Akhtar acted in, and produced his sister Zoya's directorial and written debut Luck By Chance, alongside Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead role.

"[76] 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.

"[77] Following Luck By Chance, Akhtar acted in a film titled The Fakir of Venice, which was initially scheduled to release before Rock On!!

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".

[90] 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.

"[91] Kaveree Bamzai of India Today called his acting "sensitive, soulful", further saying that he was "perfectly capable of reading out his father's poetry.

[97] In 2014, Akhtar starred alongside Vidya Balan in the romantic comedy Shaadi Ke Side Effects directed by Saket Chaudhary and produced by Pritish Nandy.

[100][101] 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.

[109][110] 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.

[113] Akhtar received training for boxing[114] for his next release Toofan, a sports drama, directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, which premiered on 21 May 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.

These include Hindustan Unilever's water purifier product titled Pureit, Chivas Regal, Britannia Nutri Choice Biscuits, IndusInd Bank, Dulux Paint, Titan Industries and Crocin+2.