Akshay Kumar is an Indian film actor. He has appeared in over 90 Hindi films.
During the 1990s, Kumar was primarily described as the action hero of Bollywood, starring in hit action films such as Khiladi (1992), Mohra (1994) and Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), and being particularly known for his "Khiladi Series". However, he was also recognised for his performances in romantic films like Yeh Dillagi (1994) and Dhadkan (2000) as well as dramatic films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001).
Willing to change his intransigent image, Kumar later ventured mostly into comedy films. His comic performances in films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Garam Masala (2005) and Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005) met with critical acclaim
His success further rose in 2007, when he starred in four consecutive commercial hits. Having done so, he has established himself as one of the prominent actors of the Hindi film industry. 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.
Akshay Kumar was born in Amritsar, Punjab to a Punjabi family. His father was a government employee. From a very young age, he was recognised as a performer, particularly as a dancer. Kumar was raised in Delhi's Chandni Chowk neighbourhood before moving to Mumbai.In Mumbai, he lived in Koliwada, which was another Punjabi dominated area.He studied at Don Bosco School and then Khalsa College, where he participated in sports with Janpal Singh.
He studied martial arts in Bangkok and worked as a chef. He then came back to Mumbai, where he started teaching martial arts. One of his students happened to be a photographer and recommended him to do modelling. The student gave him a modelling assignment for a small company. For his two hours posing in front of the camera, he got Rs. 5,000, compared to his previous salary of Rs. 4,000 in one month. That was one of the main reasons why he chose to be a model. After a couple of months of modelling, Kumar was finally offered a lead role by producer Pramod Chakravarthy for the movie Deedar.
