Actor-director-producer Aamir Khan, who set a trend in the Bollywood star system by choosing to walk a different path despite being a superstar with huge fan following, turned 48 on Thursday. Filmmaker Rohit Shetty also shared their birthday with Aamir Khan, although this apart the two successful personalities of Bollywood hardly shared anything in common. He tuned 40 years of age. Born as Aamir Hussain Khan, the Bollywood perfectionist as Aamir Khan is known, debuted with 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' in 1988 and the very first film won him the first National Film Award as a Special Jury Award and he received the same again for 'Raakh' in 1989. Khan received his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the major grosser 'Raja Hindustani' in 1996 and later earned his second Best Actor award for his performance in the Academy Award-nominated 'Lagaan', which also marked the debut of his own production company. However, the actor does not believe in awards and thus, never appears in any of them.

His remarkable character in the film 'Rang De Basanti' also won him Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor, while his directorial debut with 'Taare Zameen Par' won him the Filmfare Award for Best Director. The 'perfectionist', as he is commonly referred, is one of the finest actors in Bollywood today and attempts to master the craft so that his characters appear close to perfect as well as natural.Some of his films are the biggest box-office earners like 'Ghajini' and '3 Idiots' (2009), which became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all-time.  The Indian government has honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2003 and the Padma Bhushan in 2010 for his contributions towards the arts.On 30 November 2011, Khan was appointed as national brand ambassador of UNICEF to promote child nutrition. He is part of the government organised IEC campaign to raise awareness about malnutrition.

Khan made his television debut with his social issue based talk show 'Satyamev Jayte'. His upcoming films include the much hyped 'Dhoom 3', 'PK (PeeKay)' and 'The Falling'. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh wished the superstar via Twitter saying:"Many happy returns of the day to @aamir_khan . A gem of a person. An actor par excellence. Have a super year!" Rohit Shetty on the other hand is the master of commercial hits.The director is reportedly opting for a working birthday since he has to be in his movie set every day. Besides, his school-going son Ishaan is having his exams these days and hence a birthday bash is unlikely, reports said.

He started his career at the age of 17 as an assistant director with Kuku Kohli during 'Phool Aur Kaante'. Having developed a good rapport with Ajay Devgn, he started working with Anees Bazmee on 'Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha' (Ajay, Kajol), followed by Ajay's home productions, 'Hindustan Ki Kasam' and 'Raju Chacha'. Shetty directed his debut feature film, 'Zameen', as an independent director with Devgn in 2003 at the age of 30. Howver, the film did not do well. He tasted success with the 2006 comedy film, 'Golmaal: Fun Unlimited' starring Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor and Sharman Joshi. The director has so far delivered a good number of hits in the comedy genre including films like 'Golmaal', 'Golmaal Returns', 'All The Best: Fun Begins', 'Golmaal 3', 'Singham' and 'Bol Bachchan'.