Note: Bellow information is not my own written content. All the information collected from the sources only to make the reader get up-close with our Bollywood celebrities.
Akshay Kumar (Akki & Khiladi Kumar)
Actor, Producer & Host
Born on 9th September, 1967
One of the Bollywood's busiest and leading men, Akshay Kumar grew from screaming 'Kiai' while learning martial arts to being the action star of repute. Akshay Kumar's journey as a successful actor is full of hard work and struggles. From being a waiter to learning martial arts and being an instructor of the same, Akshay Kumar has done it all. It is not wrong to say that, Akshay Kumar's success story is that from rags to riches. With natural good looks and strong built due to learning martial arts, Akshay Kumar tried his hand at modeling. Subsequently, he made his foray into movies as an actor and there was no looking back. With his dedication and hard work, he achieved great success in Bollywood.
Initially, Akshay started out with action movies as it was easy for him to perform stunts and action scenes. Later, he explored his other side by acting in various genres of movies, thereby, earning credibility as an actor. So from the Khiladi series, 'Mohra', 'Sapoot', and 'Jaanwar'to movies such as 'Dhadkan', 'Andaaz', 'Hera Pheri', 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' and many more, Akshay Kumar has dabbled in movies of every genre. With each genre, he has also molded his acting as per the requirement and showed his versatility.
Soon, he became one of the trusted stars in Bollywood who can carry a movie on his shoulder. Every actor goes through a rough patch and Akki was no immune from it. But, he came back stronger with good choice of movies and roles. Movies such as 'Housefull 2', 'Rowdy Rathore' grossed more than 100 crores and 'OMG', 'Special 26', 'Holiday', 'Gabbar Is Back' and 'Airlift', acclaimed commercial and critical success. Today he is one of the most sought after actors with huge expectations riding upon him. It can be said that Akshay has hit a purple patch.
Personal Details
Full Name: Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 78 Kilograms
Body Measurements: Chest- 42 Inches, Waist- 32 Inches, Biceps: 15 Inches
Parents: Hari Om Bhatia, Aruna Bhatia
Spouse: Twinkle Khanna
Children: Daughter - Nitara Kumar Son - Aarav Kumar
Early Life
Akshay Kumar was born in the home of a military officer Hari Om Bhatia, in Amritsar. Right from his childhood days, he was athletic, with interest in dance. Akshay along with his parents moved to New Delhi and then to Mumbai. Akshay completed his schooling from Don Bosco School and then enrolled himself in Guru Nanak Khalsa College to complete his graduation. But, within a year, he dropped out of college with plans to learn martial arts. He studied Taekwondo in Mumbai and earned a black belt. Post that, he decided to move to Bangkok to study further in martial arts.
He moved to Bangkok, Thailand and studied Muay Thai while working as a chef and waiter. He returned to Mumbai and started teaching martial arts to those interested. One of his students recommended him to try modeling and that led him to his first modeling assignment. He stopped teaching martial arts and concentrated on modeling as it gave him more money. At the same time, he also worked as a background dancer in various movies. However, during that time, he missed his flight to Bangalore for an ad shoot. Disappointed, he went to a film studio with his portfolio. The same evening, he got a call from a producer Pramod Chakravarthy to inform him about his movie. Soon, he was cast for the movie ‘Deedar’. Thus, started the beginning of the rise of his acting career.
Filmography & Acting Career
1991- 1999: Debut to Establishing Himself
Akshay Kumar made his debut in the Bollywood industry in the 1991 movie, 'Saugandh'. In the same year, he was also seen in another movie 'Dancer' which did not perform well at the box office. In the subsequent year, he bagged Abbas-Mustan thriller 'Khiladi', which in real sense brought Akshay Kumar in limelight and the movie was a superhit. His next release was 'Mr. Bond' based on James Bond, which was not received well by the audiences. The year 1993 was one of the worst years in his career so far, as all his five movies were not commercially successful.
In 1994, Akshay was seen as a cop in his two movies, 'Main Khiladi Tu Anari' and 'Mohra' which went on to become hits and were highest grossing movies of the year. In the same year, he was seen in nine different films apart from the above two, thus making it 11 movies in a year. Movies such as “Yeh Dillagi', 'Suhaag' and 'Elaan' saw success and put Akshay Kumar as one of the successful Bollywood Heroes. In most of his movies, he was seen playing action roles and the Khiladi series ensured he lived up to the tag of action hero.
The year 1995 saw him in two movies, 'Sabse Bada Khiladi' and 'Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi'. Both the movies went on to become a huge success. However, after a slew of successes, Akshay was bound to have some failures to balance things out. So from the years 1997 to 1999, almost all of his movies were a flop. But, two movies 'Sangharsh' and 'Jaanwar' saved the day and his sinking career with some notable performances in both the movies.
2000-2006: A Strong Comeback
Akshay Kumar started the year 2000 with a bang by starring in the laugh riot 'Hera Pheri'. The movie became a huge hit and his performance was liked by all. In the same year, he was seen in a romantic drama 'Dhadkan'. The movie did fair business and Akshay Kumar's acting was praised. His next release was a thriller 'Khiladi 420', another movie in the Khiladi franchise. Akshay Kumar's dangerous and death defying stunts which he had performed himself were worth watching in the movie. He aced his performance in the 2001 hit 'Ajnabee', where he received his first Filmfare award for Best Villain.
The subsequent year was a mixed one for Akshay, where only 2 out of 4 movies were successful, 'Aankhen' and 'Awara Paagal Deewana'. His performance as a blind man and a Don in both of these respective movies was worth watching. In 2003, he was seen in a romantic drama 'Andaaz' which became a commercial success and one of Akshay's finest performances. In 2004, Akshay came with 5 movies and 4 of them went on to become superhits. It is during this period that Akshay established himself as a versatile actor and ensured that there is no dull period in his career. Movies such as 'Khakhee', 'Aan: Men At Work', 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' and 'Aitraaz' gave him the room to explore his acting talent.
In the next couple of years, he did various roles and gave some good movies to watch such as the romantic musical drama 'Bewafa', an emotional family drama 'Waqt', a comedy movie 'Garam Masala' which won him his second Filmfare award and 'Bhagam Bhag'. There were few movies which did not fare well at the box office, but, that did not affect his popularity.
2007-2011: More Hits after Hits
Akshay is probably the only actor to give four hits in a row in a particular year. 'Namastey London', 'Heyy Babyy', 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa', and 'Welcome' are some of his most loved movies and memorable ones too. With superior quality of performances in each of these movies, Akshay won millions of hearts of cinema lovers.
The next four years were a mixed one for Akshay, with few hits and few flops. Having said that, he somehow managed to ensure that audience love him in whichever role he plays and that has become his forte off late.
2012- Present: Brand Akshay
With movies which suit only him and his brand of cinema, Akshay Kumar has established himself as a brand of his own in this period of five years. Starting with the comedy 'Housefull 2' and then with 'Rowdy Rathore', he gave the producers of these two movies a reason to enjoy, as the movies crossed the 100 cr collection mark. By appearing in low budget movies such as 'OMG' he gave credibility to the movie and also to the role that he played in the movie. The movie picked up slowly but then went on to become a hit. With movies such as 'Special 26', 'Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty', 'Baby', 'Gabbar Is Back' and 'Airlift', Akshay was back in what he does best- Action. But, in between he also did some comedy movies with the recent ones being 'Singh Is Bliing' and 'Housefull 3'. Thus, it can be said that Brand Akshay is built of Action and Comedy where he keeps on trying out new roles to keep his fans and viewers entertained. Moreover, he is the only actor to have crossed 2000 crores at the box office combining all his movies till date.
Upcoming movies: Rustom, 2.0
Biggest Hit Movies: Akshay Kumar has done more than 100 movies till date and some of them have gone to become hits. So his biggest hit movies till date are:
Airlift
Housefull 3
Gabbar Is Back
Baby
Holiday
Special 26
OMG
Rowdy Rathore
Housefull 2
Housefull
Singh Is Kinng
Welcome
Bhool Bhulaiyaa
Namastey London
Phir Hera Pheri
Hera Pheri
Andaaz
Hit Songs:
Gore Gore Mukhde Pe from movie ‘Suhaag’
Tip Tip Barsa Paani from movie ‘Mohra’
Chura Ke Dil Mera from movie ‘Main KhiladiTuAnari’
Tu Cheez Badi Hain Mast Mast from movie ‘Mohra’
Khud Ko Kya Samajhti Hai from movie ‘Khiladi’
Sheila Ki Jawani from movie ‘Tees Maar Khan’
Wada Raha from movie ‘Khakhee’
Hookah Bar from movie ‘Khiladi 786’
Long Drive from movie ‘Khiladi 786’
Teri Ore from movie ‘Singh Is Kinng’
Main Jahan Rahoon from movie ‘Namastey London’
Chinta Ta Ta Chita Chita from movie ‘Rowdy Rathore’
Soch Na Sake from movie ‘Airlift’
Taang Uthake from movie ‘Housefull 3’
Awards
Akshay Kumar has won many awards and recognitions for the various roles that he has played in innumerous movies. Apart from that, he has also won many national and international honours. Some of them are:
Filmfare Awards
Best Villain for the movie 'Ajnabee' in the year 2002
Best Comedian for the movie 'Garam Masala' in the year 2006
National Award
Akshay Kumar was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri in the year 2009
Honorary Doctorate
In the year 2008, Akshay Kumar was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Law by the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada for his contribution to Indian cinema and contribution to social causes.
Apart from the above awards and recognitions, Akshay Kumar has also been honoured with:
Highest Japanese honour of 'Katana' along with sixth degree Black Belt in Kuyukai Goju-ryu-karate in the year 2009
Reader's Choice Style Icon in the year 2013
Controversies
Controversies are a package deal in this industry. Akshay Kumar is mainly in controversy for his alleged affairs, but off late he has kept a safe distance from all his actresses. However, there are still some controversies in which the International Khiladi has involved himself. They are:
Akshay- Raveena Affair: Akshay Kumar has always been known as Ladies Man and his alleged affairs with his co-stars are a proof to this tag. The scorching chemistry between Raveena and himself in the song 'Tip Tip Barsa Paani' had set the screens on fire and had also set their hearts in love. But, being true to his tag, he then had his eyes set on Shilpa Shetty.
Akshay- Shilpa Romance: After dumping Raveena, he moved on to the Shetty girl and the stories of their romance hit a new high. For Akshay, Shilpa Shetty became the most beautiful actress in the industry and their chemistry sizzled when they came together for a movie. However, she also got the same treatment as he moved on to the not so well known actress at that time, Twinkle Khanna.
The Growing Closeness: Akshay Kumar and Rekha were seen in a raunchy dance number, getting too intimate for Raveena's discomfort, who was dating him then. There were lot of speculation about the much older Rekha dating a younger Akshay and all he could do was let it pass by.
The Unbuttoning Scandal: Akshay Kumar was there to launch the 'Unbuttoned' edition of Levis jeans at a fashion show. When on the ramp, he asked his wife, Twinkle Khanna to unbutton his pant. This caused a lot of controversy and moral police also filed a suit on the actor.
The Shirish Kunder Spat: Akshay was visibly irked at the co-ordination issues on the sets of his movie 'Joker' and because of that, Akshay completely refused to promote the movie.
The Twinkle Diktat: The growing closeness between Akshay and Priyanka Chopra during the shooting of their movie 'Aitraaz' and then ‘Waqt’, irked his wife so much that she issued an ultimatum to stay away from her.
Other Information
Owns:
Production House – Hari Om Entertainment and Grazing Goat Pictures
Team: Khalsa Warriors in World Kabaddi League
Brand Ambassador/ Endorser:
Over his long career, Akshay Kumar has earned his name and is one of the blue eyed boys when it comes to brand endorsements and ambassador. He has been endorsing many brands since the start of his acting career. Some of the brands which he has/is endorsed/endorsing are:
Baba Elaichi
Dollar Club
Eveready
Honda 2 Wheelers
Levis
LG
McDowell Signature
Micromax Mobiles
Manappuram Gold Loan
Rasna
Thumbs Up
Sparx Shoes
Along with being the brand endorser for the above brands, Akshay is also the brand ambassador for:
Premier Badminton League
Lodha Group
Canada (Country)
Surat Night Marathon
Contribution in social causes:
Akshay Kumar believes in giving back to society and he does that by contributing to social causes and doing philanthropy. Some of the causes which he stood for and contributed towards are:
Donating 1 crore to Chennai flood victims relief fund
Donating 20 crores to Uttarakhand flood victims
Raising funds for 100 farmer families in the drought struck Marathwada to the tune of 90 lakhs
Opening a self defense school for girls, where the art of self defense will be taught to the girls
Picture and content sources:mobango.com