Sana Khan (born August 21, 1987) is an Indian actress, model and dancer.^[2] Khan began her career in modeling and went on to appear in advertisements and feature films. She has appeared in south Indian films, TV commercials, dance performances in films in special appearance, and for a reality television show. She has acted in 14 films across 5 languages and has appeared in over 50 ad films.

Sana Khan was born on August 21, 1987 in Mumbai. She was raised in Mumbai. Her father is originally from Kannur, Kerala; and her mother, Saeeda, is from Mumbai^[3] Khan completed her high school (12th grade) from Mumbai and did not pursue any further studies as she became involved in modeling at an early age.

Khan started doing modeling assignments after completing her high school.^[4] She made her acting debut in the low-budget adult Hindi film Yehi Hai High Society, which was released in March 2005.^[5] She subsequently started appearing in television commercials and other ad films.

Khan's debut Tamil film Silambattam was produced by Lakshmi Movie Makers,^[2] and was released in December 2008.^[6] Silambarasan, the film's lead actor, who had vainly tried to sign her for a role in his film Kettavan, called her again for the female lead role in Silambattam after seeing her ad with Shahrukh Khan.^[3]She said in an interview with The Hindu, "Silambarasan came to Mumbai looking for a fresh face for his film Silambattam. There he saw me and selected me. I knew I had to work hard to make it big in the Tamil film industry".^[2] Khan regards the film as her first break.^[2] She received praise for her portrayal of a talkative, tomboyish brahmin village girl named Janu in the film,^[3] and won the 2009 ITFA Best New Actress Award in Singapore.^[1][7]

In March 2010, her next Tamil film, Thambikku Indha Ooru was released. Later that year, Khan ventured into the Telugu film industry, appearing in Nandamuri Kalyan Ram's Kalyanram Kathi, which was released in November 2010.^[8] Khan's next release was the February 2011 bilingual thriller Gaganam / Payanam – shot in Telugu and Tamil, respectively – which was based on an airplane high-jack theme.

In May 2011, Khan stepped into Kannada films with Golden Movies' Kool...Sakkath Hot Maga. In September 2011,^[9] her next Tamil film, Aayiram Vilakku, was released, in which Khan played the role of aMadurai girl.^[7] In the March 2012 Telugu film Mr. Nookayya Khan played the role of a waitress in a pub, adding glamour to the film.^[10] Khan will be making her Malayalam film debut with Climax that is loosely based on the Hindi film The Dirty Picture and will be playing the role of late South Indian actress Silk Smitha.^[11][12][13] Khan has also signed up her sixth Tamil film, Thalaivan with Bas, which is being produced by Blue Ocean Pictures.^[14]

She got a major breakthrough in Bollywood with Sohail Khan Productions film, Jai Ho, where she plays a lead female role,^[15] With the shooting of the film having started in March 2013^[15] in Dubai,^[16]

Khan is known for her dance performances in films in a special appearance – popularly known as item numbers in Bollywood parlance. She gave her first such performance on a song in the Tamil film E, which was released in October 2006.^[17] In July 2007, she appeared in a music video in the Hindi film Bombay to Goa.^[18] Khan acted in Abbas Ali Mirza's music video for his album Sitam – Peak of Passion.^[19] The video was shot in July 2007 in Gemini Studios by Colossus.^[20] Her next dance role was for the November 2007 Hindi movie, Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal,^[21] in which her performance on the song Billo Rani soared her popularity.^[22] Apart from films, Khan also did a dance performance on TV for Zee TV's drama program, Meri Doli Tere Angana in one episode.^[23]

Khan has acted in over 50 ad films,^[2] including a cosmetic commercial directed by Shirish Kunder in July 2007.^[19] She has also done a commercial for the deodorant brand, Secret Temptation and forYatra.com. She has done an advertisement for Xbox 360 video game console.

In March 2007, Khan 's TV commercial for the men's underwear brand, Amul Macho, showed her provocatively scrubbing and washing an underwear, simulating an orgasm.^[24] It created a strong controversy and was banned by the Indian government on the grounds of sexual profanity.^[25] Khan responded in an interview, "Forget about the ban and people taking out morchas (protests) against me and burning my posters in Bombay (Mumbai). At the end of it people from the creative field have loved it."^[25] The company re-hired Khan, shot a sequel to that commercial with a different theme, and released it in February 2008.

In October 2012, Khan participated in the Indian celebrity reality TV show Bigg Boss Season 6 as a contestant. Before entering the show, she said in an interview, “I am going to flaunt my age and the fact that I am the youngest. I am going into the house without any preparation. I want to be spontaneous and show the world the real me.”^[26] She gained a lot of popularity from the audience and managed to stay in the show till the end, though she stood third in the show. She told PTI, "I am happy to have reached top three. I did not expect this."

Khan lives in Mumbai in a 1000 sq feet house with her mother and a maid.,^[28] but is presently in a process of moving to a new bigger house in Lokhandwala,Andheri.^[13]