BioGraphy

  • Akshay Kumar (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia on September 9, 1967) is an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has been nominated for Filmfare Awards several times and won two times. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series", which included Khiladi (1992), Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi (1997), International Khiladi (1999), Khiladi 420 (2000) and Khiladi 786 (2012).

    Early Life and Background

    Akshay Kumar was born in Amritsar in the Indian state of Punjab. His father was an army officer. His mother's name is Aruna Bhatia. From a very young age, he was recognised as a performer, particularly as a dancer. Kumar was raised in Delhi's Chandni Chowk neighbourhood before moving to Mumbai. In Mumbai, he lived in Koliwada, which was another Punjabi dominated area. He studied at Don Bosco School in New Delhi and then Guru Nanak Khalsa College in Mumbai. Akshay has one sister also,Alka Bhatia.
    After having obtained a black belt in Taekwondo while in India, he studied martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand, where he learned Muay Thai and worked as a chef and waiter. He then came back to Mumbai, where he started teaching martial arts. One of his students happened to be a photographer and recommended him to do modelling. The student gave him a modelling assignment for a small company. For his two hours posing in front of the camera, Kumar got INR5,000, compared to his previous monthly salary of INR4,000. That was one of the main reasons why he chose to be a model. One morning he missed his flight for an ad-shoot at Bangalore. Disappointed with himself, he went for his usual rounds at various film studios with his portfolio. Luckily that same evening, Kumar was signed for a lead role by producer Pramod Chakravarthy for the movie Deedar.

    Personal Life

    Actress Twinkle Khanna, the daughter of actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, he married her on January 17, 2001. Their son named Aarav was born in September 2002. Wife Twinkle Khanna gave birth to their second child, Nitara, on September 25, 2012. Akshay stays in shape with a combination of kickboxing, basketball, swimming, parkour and other sports, as well as working out.
    In the year 2004, he was honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Award for his outstanding achievements in Bollywood. In 2008 the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada awarded him with Honorary Doctrate of Law for his outstanding work in the film industry and contribution to social work.
    The same year he was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People (India) magazine. The following year he was awarded the highest Japanese honour of "Katana" and a sixth degree Black Belt in Kuyukai Gojuryu Karate. He was one of the 15 international celebrities invited for the Olympics torch-bearer rally to Canada. He also became responsible to endorse the Canadian Tourism by sharing the duty of Brand Ambassador till the summer of 2012.