Veteran actor Nassar celebrates his 55th birthday today! The actor, who has acted in over hundreds of films, is considered one of the best character role players of contemporary cinema. Apart from Tamil, he has also been a part of several Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam and English films.

The actor, who passed with gold medals from two acting schools, South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce's Film Institute and the Tamil Nadu Institute for Film and Television Technology, took up odd jobs like security guard, salesman and waiter, to stay in Chennai and look for opportunities in Tamil Cinema.

Nassar's first mainstream film was K. Balachander's Kalyana Agadhigal. He rose to fame with Mani Ratnam's Nayagan and there has been no looking back for the actor since then. He has also tried his hand at direction, with films like Avathaaram, Devathai, Maayan and Pop Corn.

Galatta wishes Nassar a very Happy Birthday!