The 59th birthday of Tamil megastar Rajnikanth on Friday remained a "low-key" affair following the actor's appeal to his fans to refrain from the celebrations in view of the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

Blood donation camps and other welfare activities were held, besides special prayers on the occasion by his fans. Meanwhile, Tamil Nada Chief Minister M Karunanidhi wished the actor, who is reportedly out of town, on his birthday over phone, a state government release said in Chennai.

Earlier, another top actor Kamal Hassan had urged his fans to refrain from celebrating his birthday on November seven over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Hassan had said that it could be good if his birthday be used to leverage public opinion in favour of Tamils in the island nation.

The Tamil film fraternity, including the top two actors, had staged a day-long fast expressing solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamils here on November one.