Farhan Akhtar (born 10 January 1974) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, playback singer and television host. He was born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani and grew up influenced by the Hindi-language film industry. He began his career in Bollywood working as an assistant director on the films Lamhe (1991) and Himalay Putra (1997).

After founding the production company Excel Entertainment with Ritesh Sidhwani, Akhtar made his directorial debut with Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and received critical acclaim for its portrayal of contemporary youth. The film also won a National Award. He followed it with Lakshya (2004) and made his Hollywood debut through the soundtrack of Bride and Prejudice (2004), for which he wrote the lyrics. He then directed the commercially successful film Don (2006). He directed the short film Positive (2007) to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS.