Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar (Hindi: अक्षय कुमार, born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, on September 9, 1967) is a popular Bollywood film actor.

During the 90s, Kumar was known as the action hero of Bollywood, starring in hit films such as Khiladi (1992), Mohra (1994) and Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), and being notably known for his "Khiladi Series". He was praised for his performances in successful romantic films like Yeh Dillagi (1994) which earned him his first Filmfare nomination for Best Actor, Dhadkan (2000) and Ek Rishtaa (2001). He won his first Filmfare Award under the Best Villain category for his performance in Ajnabee (2001). Kumar later ventured into comedy films for which he has received much appreciation. His comic performances in films such as Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Garam Masala (2005) and Jaan-E-Mann (2006) met with huge acclaim. Balancing commercial crowd attractions with critical success, he has established himself as one of the most prominent leading actors of the industry.

Early Life

Akshay Kumar lived in Delhi for some time before moving to Mumbai. ^[1] He lived in Koliwada which was a Punjabi dominated area. And then moved to Amritsar. ^[1] He studied at Don Basco school and then Khalsa College, where he took an interest in sports. ^[1]

He studied martial arts in Bangkok and worked as a Chef. His fall into acting came when producer Pramod Chakravarthy, saw his portfolio and offered the lead role in Deedar. ^[1]

Career

His first Bollywood film was Saugandh in 1991 which was unnoticed.

His first major hit was the 1992 thriller film Khiladi. 1993 saw a drop as many of his films failed to do well. However, 1994 proved to be a good year for Kumar as he followed up his success with Khiladi with the action thriller Main Khiladi Tu Anari and the action hit Mohra which was one of the highest grossing films of the year. ^[2]Later that year, Yash Chopra signed him for the romantic film Yeh Dillagi which was also a success.^[3]. He received appreciation for his performance in this film, where he played a romantic role which was different compared to his action roles. Consequently, he received various nominations for Best Actor award at the Filmfare and Star Screen ceremonies. All these achievements, promoted Kumar as one of the most successful actors of that year. ^[4]

In 1995, along with his share of unsuccessful movies, he starred in the third film in his Khiladi series Sabse Bada Khiladi, which was another hit. He proved to have success with the Khiladi series, as in the next year he starred in the fourth hit film with Khiladi in the title, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi opposite Rekha and Raveena Tandon, which was one of the highest grossing films of the year.^[5]

In 1997, he made an extended guest appearance in Yash Chopra's hit film Dil To Pagal Hai, for which he received 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 which was unsuccessful. ^[6]. Along with this film, his next few Khiladi films went on to fail at the box office. In 1999, he received critical acclaim for his roles in the films Sangharsh and in the box office hit Jaanwar^[7].

In 2000 he starred in the comedy Hera Pheri (2000) which was a success ^[8] and showcased his talent at doing comedy just as well as action or romantic roles. He also starred in the romantic film Dhadkan later that same year which was also a box office hit. ^[9] In 2001, Kumar played a negative role in the film Ajnabee for which he won much acclaim as well as the Filmfare Best Villain Award.

After the success of Hera Pheri, he starred in many successful comedy films which include Awara Paagal Deewana (2002), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and Garam Masala (2005) ^[10]

Apart from his action, comedy and romantic roles he also displayed a flair for dramatic roles in films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001), Ajnabee (2001), Bewafaa (2005) and Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005) which did moderately well in India, ^[11] but was a hit overseas. ^[12]

In 2006 he starred in a sequel to Hera Pheri titled Phir Hera Pheri which was a huge success at the box office. ^[13]

Later that year he starred alongside Salman Khan in the romantic musical film Jaan-E-Mann which did not do as well as expected at the box office. ^[14] Though the film under-performed, his role as a shy, lovable nerd was praised. ^[15] He ended the year with Bhagam Bhag which was a success. ^[16]

His first release of 2007, Namastey London was critically and commercially successful in India and overseas. ^[17] The film is currently the second highest grossing film of 2007. ^[18]

Kumar is also an active stage performer. He led the Heat 2006 world tour which also starred Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Sushmita Sen and Celina Jaitley. ^[19]

Personal life

After being engaged to actress Twinkle Khanna, the daughter of veteran actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, they finally married on January 14, 2001. Their son named Araav was born in September 15, 2002.

Controversy

In July 2007, a leading Mumbai tabloid newspaper printed a story saying that Kumar and his wife had fallen out and Kumar had moved out of his home, staying at a hotel instead. ^[20] On 26 July 2007 the couple sent a legal notice to the tabloid, declaring that the rumour was false. Kumar said:

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of Akshay Kumar's awards and nominations

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1991	Saugandh	Shiva
1992	Dancer	Raja
1992	Mr. Bond	Mr. Bond
1992	Khiladi	Raj Malhotra
1992	Deedar	Anand Malhotra
1993	Ashaant	Vijay
1993	Dil Ki Baazi	Vijay
1993	Kayda Kanoon	Daud
1993	Waqt Hamara Hai	Vikas Sabkuchwala
1993	Sainik	Suraj Dutt
1994	Elaan	Vishal Chaudhry
1994	Yeh Dillagi	Vijay Saigal	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
1994	Jai Kishen	Jai Verma/Kishen
1994	Mohra	Amar Saxena
1994	Main Khiladi Tu Anari	Karan Joglekar
1994	Ikke Pe Ikka	Rajiv
1994	Amanat	Amar
1994	Suhaag	Raj
1994	Nazar Ke Samne	Jai Kumar
1994	Zakhmi Dil	Jayadev Anand
1994	Zaalim	Ravi
1994	Hum Hain Bemisaal	Vijay Sinha
1995	Paandav	Vijay
1995	Maidan-E-Jung	Karan
1995	Sabse Bada Khiladi	Vijay Kumar/Lallu
1996	Tu Chor Main Sipahi	Amar Varma
1996	Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi	Akshay Malhotra
1997	Sapoot	Prem
1997	Lahu Ke Do Rang	Sikandar Davai
1997	Insaaf	Vikram
1997	Daava	Arjun
1997	Tarazu	Inspector Ram Yadav
1997	Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi	Raja
1997	Dil To Pagal Hai	Ajay
1997	Aflatoon	Rocky/Raja/Parimal Chaturvedi
1998	Keemat: They Are Back	Dev
1998	Angaaray	Amar
1998	Barood	Jai Sharma
1999	Aarzoo	Vijay Khanna
1999	International Khiladi	Devraj/Rahul
1999	Zulmi	Raj
1999	Sangharsh	Professor Aman Varma
1999	Jaanwar	Badshah/Babu Lohaar
2000	Hera Pheri	Raju
2000	Dhadkan	Ram
2000	Khiladi 420	Dev Kumar/Anand Kumar
2001	Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love	Ajay Kapoor
2001	Ajnabee	Vikram Bajaj	Winner, Filmfare Best Villain Award
2002	Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya	Raj Malhotra
2002	Aankhen	Vishwas Prajapati
2002	Awara Paagal Deewana	Guru Gulab Khatri
2002	Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani	Atul
2003	Talaash: The Hunt Begins...	Arjun
2003	Andaaz	Raj Malhotra
2004	Ghar Grihasti	Special appearance
2004	Khakee	Sr. Inspector Shekhar Verma	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
2004	Police Force: An Inside Story	Vijay Singh
2004	Aan: Men at Work	DCP Hari Om Patnaik
2004	Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahin	Inspector Ajay
2004	Mujhse Shaadi Karogi	Sunny Khurana/Arun	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award Nominated, Filmfare Best Comedian Award
2004	Hatya: The Murder	Ravi
2004	Aitraaz	Raj Malhotra
2004	Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo	Major Rajeev
2005	Insaan	Amjad
2005	Bewafaa	Raja
2005	Waqt: The Race Against Time	Aditya Takur
2005	Mere Jeevan Saathi	Vicky
2005	Garam Masala	Mac/Makrand	Winner, Filmfare Best Comedian Award
2005	Dosti: Friends Forever	Raj
2005	Deewane Huye Pagal	Rocky
2006	Family - Ties of Blood	Shekhar
2006	Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye	Aditya Malhotra
2006	Phir Hera Pheri	Raju
2006	Jaan-E-Mann	Agastya Rao
2006	Bhagam Bhag	Bunty
2007	Namastey London	Arjun
2007	Heyy Babyy	Arush
2007	Bhool Bhulaiyaa	Dr. Shrivastav	Releasing October 12, 2007 [22]
2007	Om Shanti Om	Cameo Appearence	Releasing November 9, 2007[23]
2008	Welcome		Post-production
2008	Tashan		Filming [24]
2008	Singh The King		Announced [25]
2008	Made In China	Sidhu [26]	Announced [25]