Amjad Khan (12 November 1940 – 27 July 1992) was an Indian actor and film director. He worked in over 132 films in a career spanning nearly twenty years. He was the son of the actor Jayant. He gained popularity for villainous roles in mostly Hindi films, the most famous among his enacted roles being Gabbar Singh in the 1975 film Sholay and of Dilawar in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978).

Amjad Khan was born in Peshawar, British India on 12 November 1940 into a family of Pashtuns to actor Jayant, who was originally from Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). His younger brother Imtiaz Khan was also an actor.

Amjad Khan was educated at St. Andrew's High School in Bandra. He then attended R. D. National College where he held the position of general secretary. During his college and school days, he worked as a theater artist and performed in his college with his brother. Later, he earned his master's in philosophy (first class) from Bombay University and used to win prizes both as actor and as director at the inter-collegiate theatre festivals. Apart from English and Urdu, Amjad Khan was also fluent in Persian, having done another master's in Persian literature, and he would help his wife for her exams in this subject.

Khan got breakthrough as a child actor with his first film role at the age of 11 in the film Nazneen in 1951. He also played small roles in Ab Dilli Dur Nahin (1957) and Maya (1961). He assisted K. Asif during the making of the film Love And God and had a brief appearance in the film. The film was left incomplete after Asif's death in 1971, and it was finally released in 1986. In 1973, he appeared in Hindustan Ki Kasam in a small role which marked his debut as an adult.

In 1975, Khan received his first major breakthrough role as dacoit Gabbar Singh in the film Sholay. He was first offered the role by one of its writers, Salim Khan. In preparation for the role, he read Abhishapth Chambal, a book on Chambal dacoits written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri (actress Jaya Bhaduri's father). Sholay went on to become an all-time blockbuster and his portrayal of Gabbar Singh received critical acclaim. The character remained his most popular and became a cultural icon in Hindi cinema. Khan later appeared as the character in a television advertisement which promoted biscuits for children.

After the success of Sholay, Khan continued to play negative and supporting character roles in many subsequent Hindi films in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s – superseding, in terms of popularity and demand, the earlier Indian actor, Ajit. He often acted as villain opposite Amitabh Bachchan as the hero. His role in Inkaar was also presented in terrifying manner. He made his presence felt in films such as Des Pardes, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Nastik, Satte Pe Satta, Chambal Ki Kasam, Ganga Ki Saugandh, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin and Naseeb.

Khan was also acclaimed for playing many unconventional roles. In the critically acclaimed film Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977) (based on the novel of the same title), by Munshi Premchand and directed by Satyajit Ray, Khan played the helpless and deluded monarch Wajid Ali Shah, whose kingdom, Avadh, is being targeted by British colonialists from the British East India Company. It is the only movie in which he dubbed a song. He also appeared in the Gujarati film Vir Mangdavalo (1976) directed by legendary director Ramanand Sagar alongside notable actor Arvind Trivedi. In 1979, he portrayed Emperor Akbar in the film Meera. He played many positive roles such as in Yaarana (1981) and Laawaris (1981) as Amitabh's friend and father respectively, Rocky (1981) and Commander (1981). In the art film Utsav (1984), he portrayed Vatsayana, the author of the Kama Sutra. In 1988, he appeared in the Merchant Ivory English film The Perfect Murder as an underworld don. He excelled at playing comical characters in films such as Qurbani (1980), Love Story (1981) and Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986). In 1986, he appeared in the Tamil film Vikram with Kamal Hassan.

In 1991, he reprised his role as Gabbar Singh in Ramgarh Ke Sholay, a parody of the legendary film which also included look-alikes of Dev Anand and Amitabh Bachchan.