Akshay Kumar (pronounced [əkˈʂɛː kʊˈmaːr]; born 9 September 1967 as Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia),[2] is

an India-born naturalized Canadian[1][3][4][5] actor, producer, martial artist and television personality who

works in Bollywood films. In a career spanning over 29 years, Kumar has appeared in over 100 films
and has won several awards, including two National Film Awards for Best Actor for his performance
in Rustom (2016) and Pad Man (2018), and two Filmfare Awards for Ajnabee (2001) and Garam
Masala (2005).
Kumar is one of the most successful Bollywood actors of all time, having starred in 113 films, 52 of
which were commercially successful.[6][7][8][9] [10][11] He was the first Bollywood actor whose
films' domestic net lifetime collections crossed ₹20 billion (US$280 million) by 2013,[12] and ₹30
billion (US$420 million) by 2016.[13] Having done so, he has established himself as one of the
prominent actors of Hindi cinema.[14][15] When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily
starred in action films. Later, Kumar also gained fame for his drama, romantic and comic roles.
Apart from acting, Kumar has worked as a stunt actor; he has often performed many dangerous
stunts in his films, which has earned him the sobriquet "Indian Jackie Chan".[16][17] In 2008, he hosted
the show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi. In 2009, he founded the Hari Om
Entertainment production company[18] and Grazing Goat Pictures production company in 2012. In
2014, Kumar launched the TV reality show Dare 2 Dance. He also owns the team Khalsa Warriors in
the World Kabaddi League. As of 2019, Kumar was on the Forbes list of the highest paid
entertainers in the world,[19] and he was the highest paid in India.[20]
Sometime during or after the 2011 Canadian federal election, the Conservative government there
granted Canadian citizenship to Kumar by invoking a little-known law which allowed circumventing
the usual residency requirement for Canadian immigrants.[1] According to a former Conservative
Party minister, Tony Clement, the citizenship was awarded in return for Kumar's offer of putting his
"star power to use to advance Canada-Indian relations," and Canada's "trade relations, commercial
relations, in the movie sector, in the tourism sector."[1] In 2008, the University of Windsor conferred
an honorary Doctorate on Kumar in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema. In 2009, he was
awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In 2011, The Asian Awards honoured Kumar
for his outstanding achievement in cinema.

Contents

 1Early life and background

 2Film career
o 2.11991–99
o 2.22000–06
o 2.32007–11
o 2.42012–15
o 2.52016–present
 3Personal life and off-screen work
o 3.1Citizenship
 4Filmography
 5Production
 6Awards and nominations
 7See also
 8References
 9External links
Early life and background
Kumar was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India,[2] to Hari Om Bhatia and Aruna Bhatia in a Punjabi family.
[21][22]
 His father was an army officer.[23] From a young age, Kumar was very interested in sports. His
father too enjoyed wrestling. He lived and grew up in Delhi's Chandni Chowk and later he moved
to Bombay (present-day Mumbai) when his father left Army to become an accountant with UNICEF.
[24]
 Soon, his sister was born and the family lived in Koliwada, a Punjabi dominated area of Central
Bombay.[21]
He received his school education from Don Bosco High School, Matunga,[25] simultaneously
learning Karate. He enrolled in Guru Nanak Khalsa College for higher education, but dropped out as
he was not much interested in studies. He requested his father that he wanted to learn martial arts
further, and his father somehow saved money to send him to Thailand. Kumar went to Bangkok to
learn martial arts and lived in Thailand for five years learning Thai Boxing.[21][26] Kumar also has a
sister, Alka Bhatia.[27] When Kumar was a teenager, his father asked him what he aspired to be.
Kumar expressed his desire to become an actor.[28]
After having obtained a black belt in Taekwondo while in India,[29] he studied martial arts in Bangkok,
Thailand, where he learned Muay Thai and worked as a chef and waiter.[30] After Thailand, Kumar
went to work in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) in a travel agency, in Dhaka in a hotel and Delhi
where he sold Kundan jewellery. Upon his return to Bombay, he commenced the teaching of martial
arts.[24]
During this time, the father of one of his students, himself a model co-ordinator, recommended
Kumar into modelling which ultimately led to a modelling assignment for a furniture showroom.
Kumar effectively made more money within the first two days of shooting than in his entire month's
salary, and therefore chose a modelling career path. He worked as an assistant for
photographer Jayesh Sheth for 18 months without payment to shoot his first portfolio.[31][32] He also
worked as a background dancer in various films.[33] One morning, he missed his flight for an ad-shoot
in Bangalore. Disappointed with himself, he visited a film studio along with his portfolio. That
evening, Kumar was signed for a lead role by producer Pramod Chakravarthy for the movie Deedar.
[34][35][36]

Film career
1991–99
See also: Khiladi (film series)
Kumar made his first appearance as the lead actor
opposite Raakhee and Shantipriya in Saugandh (1991). In the same year, he acted in Kishore Vyas-
directed Dancer, which received poor reviews.[37] The following year he starred in Abbas Mustan-
directed suspense thriller, Khiladi, widely considered his breakthrough role.[38][39][40] His next release
was the Raj Sippy-directed detective film Mr. Bond, based on James Bond.[41] His last release of
1992 was Deedar. It failed to perform well at the box office.[42] In 1993, he acted in the Keshu
Ramsay-directed bilingual film Ashaant (released in Kannada as Vishnu-Vijaya) and starring Dr.
Vishnuvardhan, Ashwini Bhave and Ashutosh Rana. All of his films released during 1993,
including Dil Ki Baazi, Kayda Kanoon, Waqt Hamara Hai and Sainik did not perform well
commercially.[43] In 1994, he played a police inspector in two films: Sameer Malkan-directed remake
of Hollywood film The Hard Way, Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Rajiv Rai-directed Mohra which were
among the highest-grossing films of the year.[44] Later that year, he starred in Yash Chopra-produced
romance, Yeh Dillagi opposite Kajol. His role in the film earned Kumar his first nomination for Best
Actor at the Filmfare Awards[45] and Star Screen award.[43] During the same year, Kumar also had
success with films like Suhaag and the low budget action film Elaan. All these achievements,
promoted Kumar as one of the most successful actors of the year.[46] In 1994, he appeared in 11
feature films.[47]
The following year, Kumar played dual role in Umesh Mehra-directed action thriller, Sabse Bada
Khiladi, which was a commercial success.[48] He proved to have success with the Khiladi series, as in
the next year he starred in the fourth film of the Khiladi series, Khiladiyon Ka
Khiladi opposite Rekha and Raveena Tandon. The film was a commercial success.[49] During the
film's shooting Kumar was injured. He received treatment in United States.[50] Shubhra Gupta of The
Indian Express wrote in a year-end review, "It was Akshay Kumar in Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi who
packed the aisles, no doubt about it... He shoved his hair back in a slick little ponytail, much
like Steven Segal, wore ankle-length great coats, wrestled with the fearsome Undertaker, and
walked away with the film."[51]
Kumar played a supporting role in Yash Chopra-directed romance, Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), co-
starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor, for which he received his first
nomination for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.[52] In the same year, he starred
opposite Juhi Chawla in David Dhawan-directed comedy Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi, fifth instalment of
the Khiladi series. Unlike his previous films of the series, it failed commercially.[53] Considerable
success, however, came with another dual role in the romantic action film Aflatoon. Critic Khalid
Mohamed, while critical of the film, approved of Kumar's effort: "Akshay Kumar comes to life. Given
something even slightly different to do, he does rise to the occasion."[54]His following releases failed
commercial and this caused a setback to his film career.[55] In 1999, Kumar played opposite Twinkle
Khanna in International Khiladi. The film turned out to be an average grosser at the box office.[40] He
received critical acclaim for his roles in the films Sangharsh and Jaanwar. Whilst the former did not
make a profit at the box office, the latter turned out to be a commercial success and marked his
comeback.[56][57][58]

2000–06
In 2000, Kumar starred in the Priyadarshan-directed comedy Hera Pheri alongside Paresh
Rawal and Sunil Shetty. The film which was a remake of Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking,
[59]
 became a commercial success[60] and proved to be a turning point in Kumar's career.[61] Hindustan
Times noted the film's "intense portrayal of the surreality of the human condition".[62] He also starred
in the Dharmesh Darshan-directed romantic drama Dhadkan later that same year. The film
performed moderately at the box office[60] but Kumar was praised for his acting.[63][64] Rediff.com's
review stated that he had proved that he is "director's actor" and that "he has worked hard on his role
is apparent."[65] That same year, he performed some of his most dangerous stunts in Neeraj Vora-
directed action thriller Khiladi 420, where he climbed a running plane, stood on top of the plane flying
a thousand feet in the air, and jumped from the plane onto a hot air balloon. In a later scene, he is
also seen being chased by a car, dodging bullets, jumping off buildings, and climbing walls.[66] His
character in the film had two names and his role received mixed reviews.[67] Sukanya Verma wrote
"Negative roles and Akshay Kumar don't go hand-in-hand. [...] Akshay is ridiculously over the top
and irritating to the core. However, he manages a decent performance as the sober and suave
Anand."[68] Padmaraj Nair of Screen, however, believed it was "the best performance of his career".[69]
His first release in 2001 was Suneel Darshan-directed drama Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love. Kumar
was praised for his performance in the film.[70] Next, he played a negative role in the Abbas Mustan-
directed film Ajnabee.[71][72] While reviewing the film for Rediff.com, Sarita Tanwar termed Kumar the
"surprise package" of the film. She added that he was "in total control as the bad guy."[73] The film
won him critical acclaim as well as his first Filmfare Award for Best Villain and IIFA award 2002 for
Performance in a Negative Role.[