Born on March 9, 1997, Darsheel Safary gained fame as a child artist when he teamed up with Aamir Khan in Taare Zameen Par in 2007. Darsheel was just nine when he made his acting debut by playing the role of a dyslexic child Ishaan Awasthi in the film. The bunny-toothed actor garnered praises for his role in the film. (All photos/mid-day archives, AFP, Instagram account of Darsheel Safary)

Darsheel always knew that he wanted to pursue acting thereon. One would imagine that the raging success of the 2008 film would have eased his way into the industry, but the youngster says that over a decade on, he is still struggling to shed that image. "Years have passed, but to everyone, I am still that child. They continue to associate me with the role. They are shocked to see how I look today."

Darsheel earned rave reviews for his performance in the film and went on to bag his second film three years later. He starred in Priyadarshan's Bumm Bumm Bole. The film is an authorized adaptation of the 1997 Iranian film Children of Heaven.

He later starred in Zokkomon in 2011 and Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children, which released in 2012.

Darsheel Safary learnt dancing at the age of five from Shiamak Davar's academy and continued till he was 10. Hip hop was his favourite genre. In 2012, he participated in the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5.

After Taare Zameen Par, Darsheel Safary had started thinking of what to do. He had got good advice from Rahul Bose who told him, have a side business ready. So he studied BMM at HR College (Mumbai) so that he could get to know the field better.

From the age of 19, Darsheel Safary has been doing theatre and since then he has three plays to his credit - "Can I Help You", in which he played the role of a suicidal, aggressive fast bowler, "Two Adorable Losers" which addressed the question about 'If a person speaks fluent English, why is he considered knowledgeable?' through student-teacher relationship and the third being "Kaise Karenge?".

Before doing theatre, Darsheel told his father that he wanted to just enjoy college life as he did Std 11 and 12. But, during that time as well, he acted in so many stage and street plays, that acting became his thing!

During his college days, Darsheel played Mahatma Gandhi and was, for the first time, introduced to method acting. He roamed around with a stick and spectacles and even got his voice right. "People told me they had never met a Gandhi like me," said Darsheel, reminiscing this incident.

Darsheel Safary has his noble reason for taking to theatre, and not doing any films for now! He wants young people to come to the theatre. "When they see our play, they will know that theatre is not preachy or ruddy duddy. It's young and relevant," said Safary.

When not rehearsing for his plays, the young actor does the rounds of auditions for "cool, out-of-the-box" roles.

"I have been having a series of meetings and narrations. But until everything is finalised, there is no point talking about them," says Safary.

In 2017, Darsheel Safary was set to make his Bollywood debut as a leading hero with Quickie. But the coming-of-age film did not take off. Wiser after the episode, he is now focussing on theatre, which he feels is helping him as an actor and make him more confident and alert.

Here's wishing a very happy birthday to Darsheel Safary!