'Endhiran' man Shankar turns 57

As director S Shankar, who is fondly compared with the 'Steven Spielberg' of Indian cinema for his magnanimous visuals and technical aspects that are imparted in his movies, turned 57 today, fans around the world celebrate his works.

Considered as one of the highest-paid directors of Indian Cinema, Shankar's movies usually revolve around social issues, combined with extensive use of visual effects, prosthetic makeup and state-of-art technology.

Hailing from Kumbakonam, Shankar always wanted to be an actor but chose direction later after working under directors S A Chandrasekhar and Pavithran.

Shankar debuted in Tamil industry with 'Gentleman" movie, starring Arjun, Madhubala and late actor Nambiar. The 'Robin Hood" type movie garnered huge success and won him  Filmfare Best Director Award and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director.

Shankar who turned 57, was flooded by wishes from celebrities of Indian Cinema and fans around the world, with a trending hashtag "Indian2", in Twitter.

On the work front, Shankar is currently directing "Indian-2", a sequel to the 1996 film 'Indian', the film has Ulaga Nayagan Kamal Haasan and Kajal Agarwal in the lead roles, while Anirudh Ravichander is roped in for the music.