Akshay Kumar
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Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar in 2009
Born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia
September 9, 1967 (age 44)
Amritsar, Punjab, India
Occupation Actor, producer, presenter
Years active 1991–present
Spouse Twinkle Khanna (2001–present)
Akshay Kumar (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia)[1] on September 9, 1967[1]) is an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has been nominated for Filmfare Award 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), and Khiladi 420 (2000), as well as other action films such as Mohra (1994), Elaan (1994), Suhaag (1994), Sapoot (1996), Keemat (1998), Angaaray (1998) and Sangharsh (1999).[2]
Later he also gained fame for his drama, romance and comic roles.[3] He started becoming known for his performances in romance films like Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dhadkan (2000), Jaan-E-Mann (2006) and Namastey London (2007) as well as drama films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001), Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005) and Patiala House (2011). His comic performances in comedy films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Garam Masala (2005), Singh Is Kinng (2008) and Desi Boyz (2011) met with acclaim. His success had soared in 2007, when he starred in four consecutive commercial hits. Akshay Kumar hit a rough patch since 2009 to 2011 but came back with two successes, Housefull 2 (2012) and Rowdy Rathore (2012) with both of them grossing over INR100 crore (US$18.1 million). He has thus established himself as one of the leading actors in Hindi cinema.
Apart from acting, Kumar worked as a stunt actor; he often performed many dangerous stunts in his films,[4] which earned him a reputation as the "Indian Jackie Chan".[2] 2008 marked his television debut as the host of the show Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi. In 2009, Kumar founded the Hari Om Entertainment production company.[5] In 2008, the University of Windsor conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Law on Kumar in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema. The following year he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In 2011 Asian Film Awards honored Kumar for his outstanding achievement in Cinema.[3]
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Akshay Kumar
Early life
Akshay Kumar born in Amritsar, Punjab.[1] 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.[6] In Mumbai, he lived in Koliwada, which was another Punjabi dominated area.[6] He studied at Don Bosco School and then Guru Nanak Khalsa College (King's Circle).[6]
After having obtained a black belt in Taekwondo while in India,[7] he studied martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand,[6] where he learned Muay Thai[7] and worked as a chef[6] and waiter.[7] 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 Rs. 5,000, compared to his previous monthly salary of Rs. 4,000. That was one of the main reasons why he chose to be a model. After a couple of months of modelling, Kumar was offered a lead role by producer Pramod Chakravarthy for the movie Deedar.[6]
Career
1990s
Kumar made his Bollywood acting debut with the 1991 film Saugandh, which was followed 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.[8] Later that year, Yash Chopra signed him for the romantic film Yeh Dillagi which was also a success.[8] He received appreciation for his performance 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 Kumar as one of the most successful actors of the year.[9]
In 1995, along with his share of unsuccessful movies, he starred in the third film in his Khiladi series Sabse Bada Khiladi, which was a hit.[10] 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.[11]
In 1997, Kumar was seen in a supporting role in Yash Chopra's hit film Dil To Pagal Hai, co-starring Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor, 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. Unlike his previous films with Khiladi in the title, the film failed commercially.[12] In the same way as this film, his next Khiladi releases in the following years went on to fail at the box office. After Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi, Akshay went through a rough patch not having much big hits. In 1999, 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 and marked his comeback.[13]
2000s
Kumar on the set of Heyy Babyy
In 2000, he starred in the comedy Hera Pheri (2000) which was a commercial success.[14] He also starred in the romantic film Dhadkan later that same year which performed moderately at the box office.[14] 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.[4] In a later scene, he is also seen being chased by a car, dodging bullets, jumping off buildings, and climbing walls.[15] In 2001, Kumar played a negative role in the film Ajnabee. The film won him much acclaim as well as his first Filmfare Award for Best Villain and IIFA award 2002 for Performance In A Negative Role.[1][16] Kumar played a role as a blind man in Aankhen.
Following Hera Pheri, Kumar starred in a number of comedy films, including Awara Paagal Deewana (2002) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004).[17] and Garam Masala (2005). The films succeeded at the box office[18][19] and his performance in the latter earned him his second Filmfare Award, for Best Comedian.[1] Apart from his action, comedy and romantic roles, Kumar displayed a flair for dramatic roles in films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001), Aankhen (2002), Bewafaa (2005) and Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005).[1]
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.[20] 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.[20] Though the film under-performed, his role as a shy, lovable nerd was praised.[21] He ended the year with the comedy Bhagam Bhag, which was a success.[20] 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.[22]
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."[23] 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."[24] His next two releases, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, were box office successes as well.[25][26] 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.[27] All of Kumar's films which released that year did well in the overseas market as well.[28]
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,[29] 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.[30] His next film was the animated film Jumbo. The year also saw 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.
In 2009, 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.[31] 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.[32] His last release in 2009 was Priyadarshan's De Dana Dan.
2010s
Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Prabhu Deva at the first look launch of the movie Rowdy Rathore
He then appeared in the 2010 comedy, Housefull, directed by Sajid Khan which garnered the second-highest opening weekend collection of all time.[33] Kumar's next release was Khatta Meetha, directed by Priyadarshan which was an average grosser. He also appeared in Vipul Shah's Action Replayy, which was a box office failure.[34] His last film of 2010 was Tees Maar Khan. In 2011 he starred in Patiala House and Thank You.
He also co-produced a film with Russell Peters titled Breakaway (dubbed into Hindi as Speedy Singhs) which is reminiscent of his own Patiala House.[35] Breakaway has become the highest-grossing English movie in Canadian history.[36] Akshay Kumar, recently 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.[37]
His last film of 2011 was Rohit Dhawan's Desi Boyz (2011), which co-starred John Abraham, Chitrangada Singh and Deepika Padukone. His first release of 2012 was Housefull 2, a sequel to his film, Housefull. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was very successful at the box office. It was also a huge hit in overseas and the biggest Bollywood grosser in New Zealand. Akshay's Rowdy Rathore released on Ist June 2012.[38] It marks the returns of him in action genre after 7 years. The film earned more than INR100 crore (US$18.1 million) in India and was a huge box office success.Joker is reportedly Akshay Kumar's 100th film.[39][40][41] [42]
Personal life
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.[1] Akshay and his wife Twinkle are expecting their second child in September 2012.[43] 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.[44]He also became responsible to endorse the Canadian Tourism by sharing the duty of Brand Ambassador till the summer of 2012
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