Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, professionally known as Akshay Kumar, is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema.
Gatekeepers News reports that with over 30 years of acting, Kumar has appeared in over 100 films and has won several awards, including two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards.
Early Life
Kumar was born to Hari Om Bhatia and Aruna Bhatia in a Punjabi family, in Amritsar, Punjab, India. His father was an army officer. Kumar, from a young age, was very interested in sports. His father too enjoyed wrestling.
After obtaining a black belt in Taekwondo while in India, Kumar studied martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand, where he learned Muay Thai and worked as a chef and waiter.
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.
Early Career
Kumar began his acting career in 1991 with Saugandh and had his first commercial success a year later with the action thriller Khiladi.
The movie established him as an action star in the 1990s and led to several films in the Khiladi film series, in addition to other action films such as Mohra (1994) and Jaanwar (1999).
Although his early romance role in Yeh Dillagi (1994) was positively received, Kumar didn’t pursue other roles. He gained recognition for the romantic films Dhadkan (2000), Andaaz (2003), Namastey London (2007), and for his slapstick comic performances in several films including Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), and Singh Is Kinng (2008). Kumar won Filmfare Awards for his negative role in Ajnabee (2001) and his comic performance in Garam Masala (2005).
Kumar after suffering a setback, reinforced his status with several films, including Rowdy Rathore (2012) and Holiday (2014). Moreover, around this time critical response to several of his films improved; his work in Special 26 (2013), Baby (2015) and Airlift (2016), which earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor for the crime thriller Rustom (2016).
He earned further notice for his self-produced social films Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017) and Pad Man (2018), as well as the war film Kesari (2019). Kumar further and set box-office records in 2019 with Mission Mangal, Housefull 4, Good Newwz, and Sooryavanshi (2021).
Personal Life
He received the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, from the Government of India in 2009.
Net Worth
Akshay Kumar has a Net Worth of $325 Million (Rs. 2660 Crore in).
