Akshay Kumar who was born in Amritsar (Punjab, India) as Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia on 9th September 1967, is an Indian Bollywood film actor. From a very young age, he was recognised as a performer, particularly as a dancer. He studied martial arts in Bangkok and worked as an assistant chef. From being a small-time model, he got his first film released in 1991, 'Saugandh'.
During the 90s, Kumar was primarily described as the action hero of Bollywood, starring in hit action films such as 'Khiladi', 'Mohra' and 'Sabse Bada Khiladi', and being particularly known for his "Khiladi Series". However, he was simultaneously recognised for his performances in romantic films like 'Yeh Dillagi' and 'Dhadkan' as well as dramatic films such as 'Ek Rishtaa', showing his versatility to perform a range of roles.
In 2002, he won his first Filmfare Award under the Best Villain category for his performance in 'Ajnabee'. Willing to change his intransigent image, Kumar later ventured mostly into comedy films. His comic performances in films such as 'Hera Pheri', 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi', 'Garam Masala' and 'Jaan-E-Mann' met with critical acclaim. His success further rose in 2007, when he starred in four consecutive commercials hits. Having done so, he has established himself as one of the prominent actors of the Hindi film industry.
During his years in Bollywood, Akshay was romanticaly linked with several of his co-star actresses like Pooja Batra, Raveena Tandon, Rekha and Shilpa Shetty. After being engaged twice to actress Twinkle Khanna, he finally married her on January 14, 2001. Their son named Aarav was born on September 15, 2002.
In 2008, the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada conferred an Honorary
Doctorate of Law on Kumar in recognition of his contribution to Indian
cinema. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government
of India.
Source - Wikipedia
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