Akshay Kumar was born as
Rajiv Om Bhatia on September 9th 1967 in Delhi. Following college, his interest in martial arts saw him in Bangkok for further learning and where to earn his living; he did a stint as a chef at a small town Dhaba type of place. He did it all - the cooking, the serving and the washing up, sleeping in the kitchen. He came back to India, he became a peon in a Kolkata travel agency, worked in Dhaka for a while, traded in ‘Kundan jewellery’ in Delhi before coming to Mumbai where he became a martial arts instructor, training both, grown-ups and children. He then began modeling changing his name from Rajiv Bhatia to Akshay Kumar. He also worked with photographer Jayesh Seth for 8 months and instead of taking remuneration for his work, he requested Seth to shoot his portfolio. Filmmaker
Pramod Chakravarty saw his portfolio and decided to launch him in
Deedar in 1992 opposite
Karisma Kapoor. However Deedar got delayed and he made his screen debut instead with
Raj N Sippy’s disastrous
Saugandh in 1991. The film did absolutely nothing for him and neither did his subsequent films, Deedar did finally release in 1992, the film flopped miserably. He finally had his first big box office success and mass acceptance with
Abbas Mastan’s musical-thriller
Khiladi (1992). The film, scored high at the box office with a chart-busting soundtrack by Jatin-Lalit. However though he made his initial presence felt in the Hindi film industry, he got his break in 1994 with the success of films like
Yeh Dillagi,
Mohra and
Main Khiladi Tu Anari.
Yeh Dillagi, in particular, saw him score heavily cast against type for the first time as the soft-spoken sensible older brother to
Saif Ali Khan’s playboy younger brother. The film, a remake of the Audrey Hepburn starrer
Sabrina in 1954, with
Kajol in the Hepburn role, saw him in a understated performance.
Mohra and
Main Khiladi Tu Anari, the latter again pairing him with
Saif, saw him play the super tough cop after the baddies to perfection. Not just action, he proved to be an extremely competent dancer as well as the success of the songs “
Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast…” from the former and the title song and “
Chura ke Dil Mera…..” from the latter would testify. In this period, he got a film opposite
Sridevi -
Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin. It was a dream come true for him and he readily agreed to the film even if it centered on Sridevi. However, the film directed by Pankuj Parashar got stuck and limped to an indifferent releases almost a decade after it was started in 2004! But action was still his mainstay and he continued with big action films like
Sapoot,
Daava,
Insaaf: The Final Justice, and
Zulmi. He had major success as a slick action hero with
Sabse Bada Khiladi in 1995 and
Khiladiyon Ke Khiladi in 1996, the films in the ‘Khiladi’ series getting bigger and bigger.
Simultaneously, he began getting films with more substance and depth to his roles especially in his films with the Darshan brothers,
Dharmesh and
Suneil. He made a strong impact in the former’s
Dhadkan in 2000 as the earnest, soft-spoken, too-good-to-be- true patient, understanding husband to
Shilpa Shetty, even if frankly his character is unrealistically nice and the latter’s
Jaanwar in 1999.
He continued to do films with the brothers in films which were more ‘relationship based’ rather than action and violence based like
Haan...Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya,
Bewafaa - a terrible re-working of
B.R.Chopra’s Gumraah and
Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love, giving a reasonably good account of himself even if none of these films had the impact of Dhadkan or Jaanwar. Among his other films where he did make a strong impression, was in a special appearance in
Dil to Paagal Hai, where though he loves
Madhuri Dixit, he lets her go when he realizes she and
Shah Rukh Khan are in love with each other.
Re-uniting with
Abaas-Mastan, the men who gave him his first hit, in
Ajnabee, he perfectly essayed the negative role of a man who has killed his wife for her wealth and who frames
Bobby Deol. He ensured his character was likeable in spite of its negative shades and he is the saving grace of the film which though reasonably successful was not one of the director-duo’s best efforts. He became a saleable actor who got audiences into the theatre even for box office failures like
Andaaz, and
Waqt: The Race Against Time and it must be mentioned here that his performances were more than adequate in these films.
He has widened his scope and concentrated more on comedy and has proved to be a fine comic actor with a great sense of comic timing, in particular in the films directed by
Priyadarshan. Though initially totally out-acted by
Paresh Rawal in
Hera Pheri, even if he does have his share of moments in the film, he has more than in the sequel,
Phir Hera Pheri but also in films like
Garam Masala,
Bhagam Bhaag and
Bhool Bhulaiyaa.
David Dhawan had already discovered a goofy side to
Akshay in
Mr and Mrs Khiladi where he made a major impact as a loveable good-for-nothing who just wants to marry a rich girl and enjoy life.
Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, again directed by David, where he played
Salman Khan’s nemesis,
Heyy Babyy and
Welcome are further proof of his ability as a fine comedian.
But there’s more to him than just action, dancing and comedy. In
Humko Deewana Kar Gaye,
Namsatey London, both with
Katrina Kaif and in the more serious portions of
Heyy Baby he has proved to be equally adept in the emotional department as well. In fact, Akshay has developed into a versatile actor who can do all kinds of roles and what\'s more even rise above scripts when the need be. He effortlessly steals
Tashan from the rest of the cast and proves to be the sole saving grace in an otherwise terrible film. His entry with the ten heads of Rawan in the film is a hoot and he is just wonderful as the small town goonda who is full of awe of Bhaiyyaji
Anil Kapoor and would kill for him but is totally tongue-tied and endearingly bashful in front of
Kareena as he tries to tell her he loves her. Even in
Singh is King, he single handedly carries the film on his shoulders.
He gamely rises above the hackneyed scenes be it slapstick like chasing a hen around the village and causing mayhem in the process or in the emotional love story track as he smiles through his hurt as Katrina gets ready to marry
Ranvir Shorey.
He became the most dependable actor in the film industry and his films are doing extremely well overseas as well as he has built quite a following in UK, USA and Canada. Akshay fell in love with Twinkle Khanna and married her in 2001. The couple has a son, Aarav.
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