With his portrayal of a local boy named Raji in the film Maya, Khan became an international adolescent superstar. Raji gets friends with Jay North's character. The success of the film boosted Khan's notoriety which gave rise to a series of the same name.

It was in 1957 that a film dropped which changed everything for the Indian Cinema. The film that opened our doors to the Oscar. ‘Mother India’ was selected as one of the final nominees in the 1958 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film Category.