Akshay Kumar is a Bollywood actor and producer. His original name was Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia. He was born on 9 September 1967 in Amritsar, Punjab. His zodiac sign is Virgo. He completed his schooling from Don Bosco High School, Darjeeling. He earned a degree from Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Mumbai. 

His father, Lt Hari Om Bhatia was an Army officer.  His mother’s name is Aruna Bhatia. He has a sister, Alka Bhatia. 

He is married to Twinkle Khanna. They have a son, Aarav, and a daughter, Nitara. 

Akshay’s favourites

His hobbies include cooking food, practicing martial arts, playing volleyball and cricket, and collecting posters of films. 

He likes to eat Thai green chicken curry, miso soup, sushi, sashimi, and chocolate fudge. 

His favourite actors are Ranveer Singh, Kamal Haasan, and Sridevi. 

His favourite film is ‘Life is Beautiful.’

Akshay loves to wear the colour blue. 

His favourite travelling destinations are Goa and Canada. 

He has his son’s name tattooed on his back. 

Akshay owns cars, Porsche Cayenne, Honda CRV, Bentley Continental GT, Mercedes Z Class, Range Rover, Ferrari, Maserati, BMW Z 4, and Toyota Celica. He also owns Yamaha VMX and Harley Davidson bikes. 

Akshay Kumar earns around Rs 30 crore for starring in one film. 

Interesting facts about Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar was born in a Punjabi family. He grew up in Chandi Chowk, Old Delhi. 

Since childhood, he had a deep interest in martial art forms. 

Akshay’s father was supportive of his dreams. He presented a condition before Akshay that he would allow him to learn martial arts in Bangkok if he successfully scored good grades in board exams. Akshay scored 63 percent marks and earned himself a ticket to Bangkok. There he lived with his uncle and learned both culinary skills and martial art forms. 

Akshay relocated to Mumbai and prepared a portfolio at his residence in Juhu. 

Akshay ventured into modelling and desired to pursue a career in the acting field. During this time, he changed his name from ‘Rajiv Om Bhatia’ to ‘Akshay Kumar.’

Akshay’s Bollywood debut

In the year 1991, Akshay made his Bollywood debut with the film ‘Saugandh.’

He is popular in the entertainment industry for performing stunts in his films. He is often called ‘Khiladi’ in Bollywood. 

He has starred in several films with similar titles like, Khiladi, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Sabse Bada Khiladi, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, Mr & Mrs Khiladi, Khiladi 420, and Khiladi 786. 

In his acting career, Akshay has played eight roles with the name ‘Vijay,’ and seven roles with the name ‘Raj.’

Bollywood’s Khiladi

He is one of the fittest actors of Bollywood. Despite his busy schedule, he wakes up at 4 in the morning and engages in physical exercises. 

During the shooting of the film, ‘Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi,’ Akshay injured his neck while lifting a weight of 350 pounds.  

In the year 2007, Akshay starred in four blockbuster hits, Welcome, Bhool Bhulaiyya, Namaste London, and Heyy Babyy. 

Awards

In 2008, the University of Windsor awarded him with an honourary doctorate degree for his contribution to the field of entertainment.

Akshay has also been honoured with Padma Shri Award and Rajiv Gandhi Award by the Government of India. 

During the time when Akshay’s films were not proving to be as successful, he applied for a Canadian citizenship. For several years, he received criticism for having a Canadian citizenship. 

On 15 August 2023, Akshay made a social media post announcing that he had officially acquired Indian nationality again, relinquishing his Canadian citizenship. 

Akshay’s filmography

Some of Akshay Kumar’s popular films are, Housefull 2 (2012), Khatta Meetha (2010), Bhagam Bhag (2006), Dhadkan (2000), Pad Man (2018), Rustom (2016), Kesari (2019), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), Rowdy Rathore (2012), OMG Oh My God (2012), Gold (2018), and OMG 2 (2023).

Akshay’s latest film ‘Mission Raniganj’ was released on 6 October 2023. His co-actors are Parineeti Chopra, Kumud Mishra and Ravi Kishan.