South actor Vijay's spectacular journey

Actor Vijay turns 38 today. The actor's upcoming film Thuppaki's teaser release has been delayed till first week of July, to avoid clash with the release of the film, Sakuni.

The actor made his first Bollywood appearance in the recent film directed by Prabhu Deva, Rowdy Rathore.

Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, better known as Vijay, is an actor/director, who stars in Tamil films.

Vijay, the son of film producer and director S. A. Chandrasekhar, also worked as a child artist in films before making his debut with Naalaya Theerpu in 1992.

Vijay has acted in commercially successful films such as Poove Unakkaga (1996), Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (1997), Thulladha Manamum Thullum (1999), Kushi (2000), Priyamaanavale (2000), Ghilli (2004), Pokkiri (2007) and Kaavalan (2011).

Vijay was mostly seen as a romantic hero at the start of his career, in films like Ninaithen Vandhai, Priyamudan, Nilaave Vaa and Thulladha Manamum Thullum to name a few. Thulladha Manamum Thullum earned him a Special Prize at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards in 1998.

In 2002, he starred in Thamizhan opposite then debutant Priyanka Chopra.

After doing romantic films, Vijay shifted focus to the action-romance genre and was seen in Thirumalai.

Ghilli (2004), which was a remake of Telugu film Okkadu, is considered as one of Vijay's biggest commercial successes and according to reports it ran for 200 days in theatres across Tamil Nadu.

In 2007 came Prabhu Deva's Pokkiri which brought more success for the actor. Vijay's performance was lauded and he received an award from noted actor Kamal Haasan.

Next was the romantic film Azhagiya Thamizh Magan which saw him in a double role. Then came the action movie Villu directed by Prabhu Deva. This too was a double role for him.

In 2010, Vijay's 50th film Sura was released. His next release Kaavalan, a Tamil remake of Malayalam film Bodyguard was an instant hit at the Box Office and Vijay got rave reviews from both critics and fans.

His next release will be Velayudham in July this year.

Vijay is now working with director Shankar in Nanban, a remake of Aamir Khan's super hit film 3 Idiots. The film also stars Jeeva, Srikanth and Ileana D'Cruz.

Talking about his personal life, Vijay is married to Sangeeta Sornalingam and the couple have two children, a son Jason Sanjay (2000) and daughter Divya Saasha (2005).

He was also seen in the South Indian Coca Cola ad along with Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif.

In 2008, Vijay was signed up as the star ambassador of IPL team Chennai Super Kings, along with Nayanthara. Here's wishing the actor a very happy birthday. The actor, however, requested his fans not to celebrate his birthday ostentatiously. Vijay's Facebook page says he would be donating blood today and requests others to do so as well.