Happy Birthday Shahid Kapoor: Rare Candid Pictures and Lesser-Known Facts on 'Haider' Actor

Actor Shahid Kapoor, who turns 34 on 25 February, has come a long way in his career. The actor proved his talent by bagging Fimfare for Best Male Actor for "Haider."

He will soon appear on big screen with his next "Shandaar" and "Udta Punjab" opposite Alia Bhatt.

Less people know that he, who made his entry in entertainment world as a background dancer in Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's "Taal", wanted to choose professional dancing as his career.

Similarly there are a few more lesser-known facts about the birthday boy below:

• The passionate actor went under training for a year to get the perfect body for his role in "Kaminey." Actually he started to build his physique when SRK commented on his body. Long time back Shah Rukh Khan visited Shamiak Davar's academy when he spotted him and asked Davar if he had stopped feeding his dancers.
• During a shot in "Ishq Vishq", as he turned around he found a horse's head extremely close to his posterior. Petrified Shahid ended up jumping a fence and running as far as he could from the animal's head.
• Believe it or not, Kareena Kapoor Khan wasn't "Jab We Met" actor's first love, it was Hrishita Bhatt. They first started dating when they shot for the Aryans music video, 'Aankhon Mein Tera Hi Chehra'
• Not only is Shahid's father, Pankaj Kapur, an acting legend, his step-mother Supriya Pathak is one of the best female actors. He is also the step nephew of the ace actor Naseeruddin Shah. Shahid's great great grandfather is acclaimed film director, screenwriter, novelist and journalist KA Abbas.
• Shahid Kapoor turned vegetarian after reading a book.

Check out the above slideshow of the birthday boy's candid photos.