30 Interesting Facts Every Fan Should Know Akshay Kumar

Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, an Indian-born Canadian actor, martial artist, producer, world famous by the name Akshay Kumar, was born on September 9, 1967. He is one of the few actors to be listed by the Box Office India as one of the most successful actors in the history of Indian Cinema. Here are 30 interesting facts about the actor:

1. His character of Rustom Pavri in the 2016 movie “Rustom,” was quite appreciated and the movie went to garner double its budget’s revenue in just a period of 10 days. The movie also made history with around 3 million views on the Internet and more than 100 million views on television, making it the first movie to have reached the 100 million mark in just a single day.
2. In the movie “Singh Is Bliing,” released in 2015, in which he played the role of Raftaar Singh, he is seen offering charity to devotees in Gurudwara, by polishing their shoes. It is said that, after filming the sequence, he took some time off and continued with the charity work, as he had wanted to do it for a long time, but couldn’t make it possible with his schedule.
3. While filming his movie “Boss,” Kumar happened to stay in a hotel in the outskirts of the city. Once when he returned to his room after his shot, he found a 12-foot python in his balcony. He called the hotel authorities, who tried to attack the snack. But he insisted on calling the animal authorities and wanted to snake to be unharmed and released in the jungle.
4. It was reported that, as of February 2013, the net box-office collection of Kumar’s movies had crossed S$300 million, making him the first and only Bollywood actor to do so.
5. For his role as Ranjit Katyal in the movie “Airlift,” he learned Arabic, as his character us based on real life Mr. Mathunny Mathews, famously known by the name Toyota Sunny. Kumar once stated that Balraj Sahni's role in the 1965 film “Waqt,” had been his inspiration for this particular role.
6. The Indian Government honored him with Padma Shri award in the year 2009, which is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India.
7. In preparation of his character as Shiva / IPS Vikram Singh Rathore, Kumar learned a special combat karate technique. He once admitted that he took up the role in “Rowdy Rathore,” just because his son loves to watch him in action roles.
8. He played the role of Jagdish Mishra / Jolly in the movie “Jolly LLB 2,” opposite Huma Qureshi who plays the role of Pushpa Pandey. It is said that he completed the filming of his character’s scenes in the entire movie in a record 30 days.
9. For his outstanding achievement in Cinema, he was honoured by the Asian Awards in the year 2011.
10. The 2012 movie “Joker,” was made by his production company Hari Om Entertainment. Still, he refused to promote the film as he was totally unhappy with the outcome.
11. Kumar was conferred an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Windsor in the year 2008, in recognition for his contribution to Indian Cinema.
12. He has an extended cameo role in the 2017 movie “Naam Shabana,” which is a prequel to his 2015 blockbuster “Baby.” The recent movie provides the back-story of one of the agents named Shabana Khan, from the movie “Baby.”
13. In the scene in the film “Sabse Bada Khiladi,” his character Lallu had to jump from a helicopter to a car, Kumar refused to have any stunt double, and did the stunt himself. He has performed many more dangerous stunts in his other movies also, earning himself the sobriquet "Indian Jackie Chan."
14. For his role as Aditya (Gabbar) in the film “Gabbar is Back,” he had to gain 15 kgs and also grow a beard. He once said that his 2 year old daughter was not happy with his beard as she complained about it poking her.
15. In an interview, he criticized his 2006 film “Phir Hera Pheri,” a sequel to his 2000 movie “Hera Pheri,” in which he plays the role of Raju, as a movie full of “nonsense” still a “super hit.”
16. In the movie “Singh is Bliing,” the scene in which he fights a lion, is not any VFX, but actually a real lion. That particular scene was shot exclusively in South Africa, while the remaining movie was shot in India. The crew travelled to South Africa for the scene, because of the restrictions in India to shoot with animals.
17. Kumar has often been accused of getting to cut short the roles of his co-stars. In the movies “Garam Masala,” and “Bhagam Bhag,” it is speculated that he was wholly responsible for Joh Abraham’s and Govinda’s role being cut out respectively.
18. He studied martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand, and even learned Muay Thai. He worked in Bangkok as a chef and waiter.
19. He claims his role as David Fernandes in the 2015 movie “Brothers,” to be the toughest he has played in his career till date. “Brothers” is a remake of the 2011 Hollywood movie “Warrior.” In preparation for his role, he lost around 10 to 15 kg in weight to match the aged look in the movie.
20. He was engaged to Twinkle Khanna twice and married her on January 17, 2001. The duo have two kids – a son, Aarav and a daughter Nitara. He is often referred to as a very protective father and has even stated once that he wants to give them a normal childhood and has been successfully keeping them away from media.
21. His movie “Chandni Chowk to China,” was the first film to be allowed by the Chinese Government to shoot a fight on the Great Wall. The said fight was supposed to be shot in 20 days, but the Chinese Government allowed only 7 days of shooting, leaving the entire crew to shoot day and night. Kumar usually accepts to filming for 10 hours a day, went to shoot for 18 hours every day.
22. During the movie 2013 movie “Boss,” one of his fan clubs named “Team Akshay,” created the world’s largest poster out of their love for him. The poster, 58.87 meters wide and 54.94 meters high, was revealed on October 3, 2013 and was approved by the Guinness World Record.
23. He was ranked #9 by Forbes in its first global list of highest-paid actors in the world, in the year 2015. He was named as the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People, an Indian magazine in the year 2008.
24. In the movie “Om Shanthi Om,” directed by Farah Khan, with Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone as the leads, he made a cameo appearance, which was ranked #3 in the Top 10 Cameos In Bollywood list by MensXP.com.
25. Kumar donated around 50% of his total paycheck from his movie “Baby,” to the Indian Army. He refused to have a stunt double and performed every single stunt by himself in the movie. His fans trended the hashtag #waitingforbabytrailer on Twitter for around 50 days.
26. For a fight scene in the movie “Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi,” he had to lift Brian Lee, following which he suffered a back injury and was even hospitalized for a period of time.
27. His movie “Heyy Babyy” in which he plays the role as Arush Mehra, is the first ever Bollywood movie to be released on a Blu Ray disc in HD quality.
28. While filming the 2014 movie “Holiday,” a remake of a Tamil movie “Thupakki,” he got injured several times, but continued with the shooting. In a scene where his character jumps down a flight of stairs, he even injured his foot very badly.
29. During the production of “Garam Masala,” it was reported that he was in the United States, due to which the dubbing was getting delayed. The film’s crew finally had to send the equipment to US, to have him finish his dubbing.
30. Kumar was once of the 15 international celebrities invited for the Olympics torch-bearer rally to Canada.