Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar was born on Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia on 9 September, 1967. Heis an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films.

When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he initially starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series", which included Khiladi (1992), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), International Khiladi (1999), and Khiladi 420 (2000), as well as other action films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Mohra (1994), Elaan (1994) and Suhaag (1994).

He later gained more fame for his drama, romance and comedy roles. He started becoming known for his performances in romance films like Yeh Dillagi (1994) and Dhadkan (2000) as well as drama films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001).

Date Of Birth : September 9, 1967
Place Of Birth: Amritsar, India
Zodiac Sign: Virgo

His comic performances in comedy films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and Garam Masala (2005) met with acclaim. His success further rose in 2007, when he starred in four consecutive commercial hits. He has thus established himself as one of the leading actors in Hindi cinema. Apart from acting, Akshay Kumar worked as a stunt actor; he often performed many dangerous stunts in his films, which earned him a reputation as the "Indian Jackie Chan".

2008 marked his television initial appearance as the host of the show Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi. In 2009, Kumar discovered the Hari Om Entertainment production company. In 2008, the University of Windsor conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Law on Akshay Kumar in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema. The consecutive year he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

Early Life
Career
Movies
Education
Personal Life

Akshay Kumar was born in Amritsar, Punjab. His father was an army officer. His mother's name is Auna Bhatia. From a very young age, he was recognized as an artist, predominantly as a dancer.

After having attained a black belt in Taekwondo while in India, he learned martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand, where he learned Muay Thai and toiled as a chef and waiter.

He then came back to Mumbai, where he started training in martial arts. One of his students happened to be a photographer and suggested him to do modelling.

The student gave him a modelling assignment for a petite company. For his two hours posing in front of the camera, akshay Kumar got Rs. 5,000, compared to his earlier monthly salary of Rs. 4,000.

That was one of the chief reasons why he chose to be a model. After a couple of months of modelling, Akshay Kumar was offered an escort role by producer Pramod Chakravarthy for the movie Deedar.

Saugandh

Akshay Kumar made his Bollywood acting first appearance with the 1991 film Saugandh, which was trailed by the 1992 thriller film Khiladi. In 1994, his action films Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Mohra were among the highest grossing films of the year. Soon after that year, Yash Chopra signed him for the romantic film Yeh Dillagi which was also a success. He received appreciation for his act in this film, where he played a romantic role which was different compared to his action roles. He would consequently receive his first nominations for Best Actor award at the Filmfare and Star Screen ceremonies. During the same year, Kumar also had success with films like Suhaag and the low budget action film Elaan. All these achievements, promoted Akshay Kumar as one of the most booming actors of the year.

Sabse Bada Khiladi

In 1995, along with his share of ineffective movies, he starred in the third film in his Khiladi series Sabse Bada Khiladi, which was a hit. He proved to have success with the Khiladi series, as in the next year he starred in the fourth successful film with Khiladi in the title, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi opposite Rekha and Raveena Tandon. The film became one of the highest grossing films of the year.

Best Actor Award

In 1997, Akshay Kumar was seen in a supporting role in Yash Chopra's hit film Dil to Pagal Hai, for which he obtained a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award nomination. In the same year, he attempted a comedy role with the fifth film in the Khiladi series, Mr and Mrs Khiladi. Unlike his previous films with Khiladi in the title, the film failed commercially. In the same way as this film, his next Khiladi releases in the consequent years went on to fail at the box office. In 1999, Akshay Kumar 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 success.

Kumar on the sets

In 2000, he starred in the comedy Hera Pheri (2000) which was a profitable success. He also starred in the romantic film Dhadkan later that same year which performed fairly at the box office. That same year, he performed some of his most dangerous stunts in 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. In 2001, Akshay Kumar played a negative role in the film Ajnabee. The film won him much compliments as well as his first Filmfare Award for Best Villain. Akshay Kumar played a role as a blind man in Aankhen.

Garam Masala

Following Hera Pheri, Akshay Kumar starred in a number of comedy films, including Awara Paagal Deewana (2002) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and Garam Masala (2005). The films succeeded at the box office and his performance in the latter earned him his second Filmfare Award, for Best Comedian. Apart from his action, comedy and romantic roles, Akshay Kumar demonstrated a flair for dramatic roles in films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001), Aankhen (2002), Bewafaa (2005) and Waqt: The Race against Time (2005).

Phir Hera Pheri

In 2004 he starred in Rajkumar Santoshi's Khakee alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn and Aishwarya Rai. In 2006 he starred in a sequel to Hera Pheri titled Phir Hera Pheri. As was the former, the sequel became a huge success at the box office. Later that year he starred alongside Salman Khan in the romantic musical Jaan-E-Mann. The film was a well anticipated release, and despite receiving positive reviews from critics, did not do as well as expected at the box office. Though the film under-performed, his role as a shy, lovable nerd was praised. He ended the year with the comedy Bhagam Bhag, which was a success. In that same year, he led the Heat 2006 world tour along with fellow stars Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Sushmita Sen and Celina Jaitley.

Taran Adarsh

2007 proved to be Kumar's most successful year during his career in the industry, and as described by box office analysts, "probably the best ever recorded by an actor, with four outright hits and no flops." His first release, Namastey London, was critically and commercially successful, and his performance earned him a Best Actor nomination at the Filmfare. Critic Taran Adarsh wrote of his performance in the film, "he's sure to win the hearts of millions of moviegoers with a terrific portrayal in this film".

Heyy Babyy

His next two releases, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, were box office successes as well. Akshay Kumar's last release of the year, Welcome, did extremely well at the box office, receiving a blockbuster status and simultaneously becoming his fifth successive hit. All of Akshay Kumar's films which released that year did well in the overseas market as well.

Yash Raj Films

Akshay Kumar's first film of 2008, Tashan, marked his comeback to the Yash Raj Films banner after 11 years. Although much anticipated by the public, the film was a critical and commercial failure. His second film, Singh Is Kinng was a huge success at the box office and broke the first-week worldwide record of Om Shanti Om, the previous highest figure. His next film was the animated film Jumbo. The year also saw Akshay Kumar making his small screen debut as the host of the successful show Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi. He later returned to host the show's second season in 2009.

Kumar emerged in the 2010 comedy, Housefull, directed by Sajid Khan which garnered the second-highest opening weekend collection of all time. The next release was Khatta Meetha, headed by Priyadarshan which was a standard grosser.

He also emerged in Vipul Shah's Action Replayy, which was a box office failure. His last film of 2010 was Tees Maar Khan. In 2011 he starred in Patiala House and Thank You.

He also co-formed a film with Russell Peters titled Breakaway (Called in Hindi as Speedy Singhs) which is reminiscent of his own Patiala House. Breakaway has become the highest-grossing English movie in Canadian history.

Akshay Kumar had also dubbed for the Hindi version of Hollywood, action blockbuster, Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

. Akshay dubbed for the role of 'Optimus Prime', which is one of the key characters in the film. He took the dubbing role for his son, Aarav, and did so for free.

Then he did a film with Rohit Dhawan's Desi Boyz (2011), which co-starred John Abraham, Chitrangada Singh and Deepika Padukone.

His first release of 2012 was Housefull 2 which is a sequel to his 2010 successful film Housefull.

The film received mixed reviews from critics and was declared Super Hit in the 2nd week collectiong 94 crores net in India.

Akshay Kumar lived in Delhi's Chandni Chowk neighbourhood before moving to Mumbai. In Mumbai, he lived in Koliwada, which was another Punjabi subjugated area. He studied at Don Bosco School and then Guru Nanak Khalsa College (King's Circle), where he contributed in sports with Janpal Singh.

In 2009, Akshay Kumar featured opposite Deepika Padukone in the Warner Bros.-Rohan Sippy production Chandni Chowk to China. Directed by Nikhil Advani, the film was a critical and commercial failure at the box office. Kumar's next release was 8 x 10 Tasveer. Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, the film was a critical and commercial failure. His next release was Kambakkht Ishq. Kumar's film Blue was released on 16 October 2009. Blue collected about Rs. 42 crores at the box-office. His last release in 2009 was Priyadarshan's De Dana Dan.

Akshay Kumar earlier dated several of his colleagues, such as Shilpa Shetty and Raveena Tandon.

After being engaged twice to actress Twinkle Khanna,the daughter of actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, he married her on 17 January, 2001.

Their son named Aarav was born in September 2002. He stays in shape with a combination of kickboxing, basketball, swimming and other sports, as well as working out at the gym.