Khan’s first starring role was in Lekh Tandon‘s television series Dil Dariya, which began shooting in 1988, but production delays led to the Raj Kumar Kapoor directed 1989 series Fauji becoming his television debut instead.^[40] In the series, which depicted a realistic look at the training of army cadets, he played the leading role of Abhimanyu Rai.^[41][42] This led to further appearances in Aziz Mirza‘s television series Circus (1989–90) and Mani Kaul‘s miniseries Idiot (1992).^[43] Khan also played minor parts in the serials Umeed (1989) and Wagle Ki Duniya (1988–90),^[43] and in the English-language television film In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989).^[44] His appearances in these serials led critics to compare his look and acting style with those of the film actor Dilip Kumar,^[45] but Khan was not interested in film acting at the time, thinking that he was not good enough.^[43][46]

Khan changed his decision to act in films in April 1991,^[47] citing it as a way to escape the grief of his mother’s death.^[48] He moved from Delhi to Mumbai to pursue a full-time career in Bollywood and was quickly signed to four films.^[47] His first offer was for Hema Malini‘s directorial debut Dil Aashna Hai,^[33][41] and by June, he had started his first shoot.^[49] His film debut was in Deewana, which was released in June 1992.^[50] In it he starred alongside Divya Bharti as the second male lead behind Rishi Kapoor. Deewana became a box office hit and launched Khan’s Bollywood career;^[51] he earned the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for his performance.^[52] Also released in 1992 were Khan’s first films as the male lead, Chamatkar, Dil Aashna Hai, and the comedy Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, which was his first of many collaborations with the actress Juhi Chawla.^[53] His initial film roles saw him play characters who displayed energy and enthusiasm. According to Arnab Ray of Daily News and Analysis, Khan brought a new kind of acting as he was “sliding down stairs on a slab of ice, cartwheeling, somersaulting, lips trembling, eyes trembling, bringing to the screen the kind of physical energy … visceral, intense, maniacal one moment and cloyingly boyish the next.”^[54]