Birthday boy Shah Rukh Khan

At 45, Khan is Bollywood's most famous actor, and has an estimated net worth of $540m (AFP)
Khan was born in 1965 to Muslim parents of Pathan descent in New Delhi, India. His father, Taj Mohammed Khan, was an Indian independence activist from Peshawar, British India (FILE)
Growing up in Delhi's Rajendra Nagar neighbourhood, Khan attended St Columba's School where he was accomplished in sports, drama, and academics. He later attended the Hansraj College (1985–1988) and earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics (FILE)
Khan made his acting debut in 1988 when he appeared in the television series, 'Fauji', playing the role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai. He went on to appear in several other television serials, most notably in the 1989 serial, Aziz Mirza's 'Circus', which depicted the life of circus performers (FILE)
He made a move to Bollywood in 1992, and early in his career, Khan played against type with 1993's 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa', taking on the role of Sunil, a young man who loses the girl in the end. Khan has said the film is among his finest roles to date (FILE)
Abbas-Mustan's 'Baazigar' shocked Indian audiences with an unexpected violation of the standard Bollywood formula by featuring an ambiguous hero. It also introduced Shah Rukh Khan to Kajol, one of Bollywood's most successful cinematic partnerships (FILE)
In 'Darr', Khan played an obsessed lover going to great lengths to get his girl (Juhi Chawla), who is already happily married. The 1993 production sparked a friendship that saw the pair produce films and buy a cricket team together (FILE)
In 1994, Khan once again played an obsessive lover/psycho's role in 'Anjaam', co-starring with Madhuri Dixit. Though the movie was not a box office success, Khan's performance earned him the Filmfare Best Villain Award. (FILE)
The director shares insights on cinema and provides details about how he went about making the movie that changed his life and that has now become part of the lives of audiences across generations. (File)
In 1991, before any of his films were released, Khan married Gauri Chibber, a Hindu, in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. They have two children, son Aryan, 13, and daughter Suhana, 10. According to Khan, while he strongly believes in Allah, he also values his wife's religion (FILE)
Khan's children are raised with both Hindu and Muslim values. At his home, the Qur'an is placed situated next to the Hindu deities (FILE)
His second project with Yash Chopra as a director, 'Dil to Pagal Hai' became the second highest-grossing movie in 1997, and won Khan his third Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role as a stage director who falls in love with one of his new actresses (FILE)
Some of Khan’s most successful films have been with the director Karan Johar, including ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ (1998), ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ (2001) and ‘My Name Is Khan’ (2010)
Khan's 2001 project with Karan Johar featured Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. It was one of the first Bollywood films to truly tap the expat Indian audience and was a long-running cinematic hit (FILE)
In 2007, Khan replaced Amitabh Bachchan as the host of the third series of the popular game show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati', the Indian version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' (FILE)
The Rs500m 'Devdas' (2002) starred Khan and Aishwarya Rai. It won ten Filmfare Awards, received a BAFTA nomination and was India's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. (FILE)
Aditya Chopra's 2008 film, 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi', showcased Khan's crowd-pulling powers at their peak. The film is one of Bollywood's all-time hits and has cemented his position as Bollywood's 'King Khan' (FILE)
This year saw the release of “My Name is Khan”, a controversial film about post-9/11 prejudice in the United States. Bollywood’s most expensive film ever, it made back five times its Rs40m budget, grossing a tidy Rs1.8bn (FILE)