Born on April 6, 1971, Sanjay Suri was born in Srinagar, Kashmir. He spent 19 years in the Valley before shifting to New Delhi with his family in 1990 after his father was killed by militants. (All photos/mid-day archives, AFP and Sanjay Suri's official Instagram account)

Suri hails from an affluent business family of Kashmiri Pandits. After the terrorist attack on his father, Suri and his family was forced to flee to Jammu where they lived in a refugee camp for a short period and later shifted to Delhi.

Juhi Chawla's character in Onir's I AM Megha from the 'I Am' anthology film is inspired by Sanjay Suri's mother Urvashi Suri's life.

This picture was shared by Sanjay Suri on Father's Day on social media with a heart-melting caption: Don't have a photograph with my dad as all was looted when he was killed in 1990, so sharing one with mom and him from Kashmir in the 1980s. #FathersDay

As a kid, Sanjay never thought of becoming an actor. But he was always interested in movies. He used to see film stars coming to Kashmir to shoot songs and romantic scenes. But after he moved to Delhi, he rediscovered his passion for cinema.

In picture: Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli from the sets of the film My Brother Nikhil

Slowly, Sanjay Suri started with a few ad films. But even in ads, he chose ones that would let him act a little. That's how it all started.

He prides himself in being an alumni of NSD - the Natural School of Drama but also confessed that he learnt acting through trial and error. "Though I don't regret my lack of training, I do feel that I could have learnt a lot more in lesser time if I had some training under my belt," said Sanjay Suri in an old chat with mid-day.

In 1999, Sanjay Suri made his Bollywood debut with Dino Morea and Rinkie Khanna starrer Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi and went on to star in films like Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya, Jhankar Beats, Filhaal, Pinjar, Plan, My Brother... Nikhil, Bas Ek Pal, Sorry Bhai!, Chauranga, I Am, among others

In picture: A still from the movie Plan

Sanjay Suri, however, has mostly featured in Indie films or let's just say the "non-commercial" ones. But he has no regrets the way his journey has panned out. Though. the actor says he is a "victim of creative short-sightedness of others" and believes that being "underutilised" has been his biggest struggle.

Nevertheless, Suri feels blessed to still be around in the industry without having any "100-crore hit" film to his credit. "The films that I've been part of and produced, like 'My Brother... Nikhil' (which in 2005 dealt with homosexuality and HIV for the first time in India), 'Chauranga', 'I Am' (real life stories about identity crisis and child abuse among others), have travelled to festivals and bagged several awards. I am happy that these are the films I'll take with me to my grave. As an actor, I have had the pleasure of working in films like 'Jhankaar Beats', 'Pinjar' which were ahead of their times," he said.

Some lesser-known facts about the actor:

He is a hard-core mountain guy. He used to always participate in camping and trekking trips to the Himalayas, during his school and college days. 

In 2001, Sanjay Suri married his psychologist girlfriend, Ambika from Delhi. He jokingly calls himself his wife's first case study!

He was in class 6 when Sanjay Suri's elder brother Raj introduced him to squash. Within two years, Sanjay was in the Sub Junior Squash team of J&K. He even represented the state in Junior national championships as well.

He wanted to be in the Army when he was in class 8. Few years down the line, he wanted to pursue a career in the navy, after which he also wished to become a sportsman.

Sanjay Suri was slated to play Rajiv Gandhi in Jagmohan Mundra's biopic on Sonia Gandhi.

Here's wishing a very happy birthday to Sanjay Suri!