A student of the H R College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, he became a household name with his performance in his debut film Taare Zameen Par (2007). Discovered by script writer and creative director, Amol Gupte, Darsheel was chosen to play the role of Ishaan Awasthi, an eight year old boy struggling with dyslexia. Ishaan finds it difficult to study, and is scolded by his teachers and made fun of by his classmates. But Ishaan's mind is filled with imagination, wonder, colour and he is an artist whose talent has not been recognized by his teachers or parents. Darsheel’s portrayal of this complex character took the audience by surprise. The film was also very well received and Darsheel won many accolades for his performance. It even won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

Since then, he has appeared only in a handful of movies which included Bumm Bumm Bole (2010) and Zokkomon (2011). He also played a supporting role in Deepa Mehta‘s Midnight’s Children (2012), an adaptation of the novel by Salman Rushdie.

However, acting is not the young Safary’s goal, as he would prefer to be a dancer when he grows older. He was even a participant on the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa in its fifth season.