Bollywood actor Darsheel Safary, who is better recognised as 'Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi' of 'Taare Zameen Par', turned 17 on Saturday.

In 2007, Safary made his acting debut in 'Taare Zameen Par', playing the film's protagonist Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi.

Safary was discovered by script writer and creative director, Amol Gupte during late 2006 when he was looking for a male lead for his film, 'Taare Zameen Par'.

After going through hundreds of auditions, Gupte found Safary at Shiamak Davar's dancing school, "Summer Funk".

Safary's performance as a struggling dyslexic child in the film won critical as well as popular acclaim and he won several awards including Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor, Filmfare Best Actor Award, Star Screen Award for Best Child Artist, Star Screen Award Special Jury Award, Zee Cine Award - Critics' Choice Best Actor, and Zee Cine Awards - Most Promising Debut (Child Artiste).

Besides films, he also participated in the celebrity dance reality show 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5', which earned him the 7th place in the competition.

The actor was recently seen in Deepa Mehta's 'Midnight's Children'.

His upcoming films include 'Zokkomon' and 'Bumm Bumm Bole'.