Akshay kumar Early life ,background and off-screen work
Akshay kumar
Born: 9 September 1967 (age 51 years), Amritsar
Citizenship: Canadian
Upcoming movies: Sooryavanshi, Mission Mangal, Laxmmi Bomb, Good News, more
Nationality: Canadian, Indian
šEarly life and background
šEarly life and background
Kumar was born in Amritsar, India to Hari Om Bhatia and Aruna Bhatia in a Punjabi family.[14][15] His father was an army officer.[16] From a young age, Kumar was very interested in sports. His father too enjoyed wrestling. He lived and grew up in Delhi's Chandni Chowk and later he moved to Mumbai when his father left Army to become an accountant with UNICEF.[17] Soon, his sister was born and the family lived in Koliwada, a Punjabi dominated area of Central Mumbai.[14] He received his school education from Don Bosco School, simultaneously learning Karate. He enrolled in Mumbai's Guru Nanak Khalsa College for higher education, but dropped out as he was not much interested in studies. He requested his father that he wanted to learn martial arts further, and his father somehow saved money to send him to Thailand. Kumar went to Bangkok to learn martial arts and lived in Thailand for five years learning Thai Boxing.[14][18] Kumar also has a sister, Alka Bhatia.[19] When Kumar was a teenager, his father asked him what he aspired to be. Kumar expressed his desire to become an actor.[20]
After having obtained a black belt in Taekwondo while in India,[21] he studied martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand, where he learned Muay Thai and worked as a chef and waiter.[22] After Thailand, Kumar went to work in Kolkata in a travel agency, in Dhaka in a hotel and Delhi where he sold Kundan jewellery. Upon his return to Mumbai, he commenced the teaching of martial arts.[17]
During this time, the father of one of his students, himself a model co-ordinator, recommended Kumar into modelling which ultimately led to a modelling assignment for a furniture showroom. Kumar effectively made more money within the first two days of shooting than in his entire month's salary, and therefore chose a modelling career path. He worked as an assistant for photographer Jayesh Sheth for 18 months without payment to shoot his first portfolio.[23][24] He also worked as a background dancer in various films.[25]One morning, he missed his flight for an ad-shoot in Bangalore. Disappointed with himself, he visited a film studio along with his portfolio. That evening, Kumar was signed for a lead role by producer Pramod Chakravarthy for the movie Deedar.[26][27][28]
šPersonal life and off-screen work
Kumar with his wife Twinkle Khanna (left) and mother-in-law, Dimple Kapadia (right).
After being engaged twice to actress Twinkle Khanna, the daughter of actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, Kumar married her on 17 January 2001. Their first child was a boy, whom they named Aarav. Twinkle gave birth to their second child, daughter Nitara, on 25 September 2012.[202][203] He is known as a protective father and keeps his children away from the media. He stated that he wants to "give them a normal childhood."[204] In 2009, while performing at a show for Levis at Lakme Fashion Week, Kumar asked Twinkle to unbutton his jeans. This incident sparked a controversy which led to a police case being filed against them.[205]
Kumar stays in shape with a combination of kickboxing, basketball, swimming and Parkour as well as working out. While in standard eighth he had started practising Karate. He intended to open a martial arts school and the state government of Maharashtra allotted land for the school in Bhayandar.[206] In 2004, he was honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Award for his outstanding achievements in Bollywood. In the same year, he presented the television series Seven Deadly Arts with Akshay Kumar for free.[207]
In 2008, he was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People (India) magazine.
Kumar with his wife Twinkle Khanna at the launch of Mrs Funnybones in 2015
The following year Kumar was awarded the highest Japanese honour of "Katana" and a sixth degree black belt in Kuyukai GÅjÅ«-ryÅ« karate. Akshay has close ties to Canada, where he received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Windsor, and has taken Canadian citizenship; while he claims dual citizenship,[208] he is likely an Overseas Citizen of India based on the fact that the Constitution of India prohibits full dual citizenship.[209] He was one of the 15 international celebrities invited for the Olympics torch-bearer rally to Canada.[210] He became responsible to endorse the Canadian Tourism by sharing the duty of Brand Ambassador until the summer of 2012. In March 2013, he started a 30-bed cancer shelter for policemen in Naigaon.[211]
Akshay Kumar is a religious, practising Shaiva Hindu who has regularly visited shrines and temples across the country, including the famed Vaishno Devi Mandir.[212][213][214][215] Akshay Kumar is a teetotaller but has endorsed for a liquor brand in the past. Half of the sum was given for daan (charity work), of which he has been doing more of in recent times.[215] He has also donated ₹5 million (US$72,000) to Salman Khan's Being Human Foundation.[216] As of 2013, Kumar has been the Hindi film industry's highest advance taxpayer for six consecutive years. He paid ₹190 million (US$2.7 million) as advance tax payment in that year.[217]
In 1997, Kumar endorsed for Pepsi.[205]He previously endorsed for Thums Up for several years.[218] He had also endorsed for Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India,[219][220] footwear brand Relaxo, Dollar Club, Micromax Mobile, Red Label, LG Electronics and Manappuram Gold Loan.[205] On 9 August 2014, Kumar performed at his 500th live show. The show was held in O2 Arena in London as part of the inaugural function of the World Kabaddi League. His first live show was held in 1991 in Delhi. Kumar owns a team in the Kabbadi League.[206][221] He helped Khanna with editing the drafts of her debut book Mrs Funnybones.[222] Kumar also had donated a sum of ₹9 million to drought hit farmers in Maharashtra in 2015.[223][224] He has also donated ₹5 million to aid drought affected people through the Maharashtra government's Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan.[225]
On 9 April 2017, Kumar and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh promoted a mobile phone app, Bharat Ke Veer, which allows users to donate money to families of people who sacrificed their lives for India. Again on 20 January 2018, he participated in the launch of an Anthem for the initiative. In an event in Delhi he appealed for people to donate to the Bharat Ke Veer cause, and ₹12.93 crores was collected.[226][227]
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