Akshay Kumar (real name Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, born on September 9, 1967) is a popular Bollywood actor.

Career

He studied martial arts in Hong Kong and soon decided to pursue an acting career in the Bollywood film industry. His first Bollywood film was Saugandh in 1991.His first major hit was the 1992 film Khiladi. After this he often did many action films which were successful particularly the films with Khiladi in the title such as Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1993) and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996). He has also had success in romantic films such as Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dhadkan (2000) and Andaaz (2003). In 2000 he starred in the hit comedy film Hera Pheri. After its success, he starred in many successful comedy films which include Awara Paagal Deewana (2002), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and Garam Masala (2005). Apart from his action, comedy and romantic roles he also displayed a flair for serious dramatic roles in films such as Ek Rishta (2001), Bewafaa (2005) and Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005). In June 2006, his starred in a sequel to his hit film Hera Pheri titled Phir Hera Pheri which was also been very successful at the box office. In October that same year he starred in Jaan-E-Mann which did not do as well as expected at the box office but he has got positive reviews for his performance. In December he starred in another comedy titled Bhagam Bhag opposite another comedy veteran Govinda which has done moderately well at the box office. He is also a brand ambassador for products and has toured with stage shows, doing singing and dancing. He led the Heat 2006 world tour which also had Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Sushmita Sen and Celina Jaitley.

Personal life

He has been romantically linked to a few of his female co-stars such as Raveena Tandon,Pooja Batra and Shilpa Shetty.He is known to have a roving eye. Recently his name was linked up with Priyanka Chopra. After being engaged to actress Twinkle Khanna, the daughter of veteran actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, they finally married in January 14, 2001. Their son named Araav was born in September 15, 2002.He is a good friend of Suniel Shetty and have co-starred in a few movies He was a student at Don Bosco,Matunga in Bombay. His height is 6"1

Trivia

• Akshay Kumar is known for his naturally extremely hairy chest, which he now shaves or waxes in films.
• Akshay Kumar is the first Indian actor to have been given a four-film-deal with Adlabs company.
• He hurt his back while lifting a 350-pound wrestler (Brian Lee, known in the movie as The Undertaker), in the film Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi.
• He is a big fan of Chinese martial artist and film star Jackie Chan.
• Waqt was his 100th movie.
• Akshay features in a Sikh religious video Nirgun Raakh Liya released in 2006.
• He is also in the television ad for the Xbox 360 in India with Yuvraj Singh.
• He made his debut with a seven-second role in Mahesh Bhatt’s Aaj which toplined Kumar Gaurav. He played a martial arts instructor, he wasn’t given half a line of dialogue.
• His “first girlfriend”, as he describes her shyly, was the film’s (Aaj) heroine, soon to vanish into anonymity and marriage. Anyway, Kumar Gaurav was called Akshay in that forgettable movie, and that’s the name Rajiv Bhatia opted for when he was launched as a hero.