A popular actor in the south Indian film industry, Riyaz Khan is noted for portraying mostly negative and characters roles in Tamil and Malayalam cinema, apart from a few a Telugu and Kannada films. A former bodybuilder, Riyaz made his debut on the silver screen with Madhuranagarilo (1991), but it was his 1993 Tamil film, Athma that got him recognition.

The following year, Riyaz Khan made his debut in a Malayalam feature film, Sukham Sukhakram and over the years, he has starred in more than 50 films and Malayalam films. Some of his notable film credits include Badri (2000), Baba (2002), Winner (2003), Ghajini (2005), Thirupathi (2006), Sura, and Nimisham (2018), a Malayalam drama directed by P.R. Suresh. Apart from acting, Riyaz is also very passionate about fitness and he is the brand ambassador of a Chennai-based fitness studio called Inshape Health & Fitness. His other big project in 2018 includes 2.0. His other releases includes Bhandhan Preet ke (2018), Paruppuvada (2019) and ACP Madhava (2021).